cool-thumb USA take a look at this reel, is it as stated? its a Wyers Freress Reel ebay # (5201043399) looks to be a lot of hand work done on it, (I am not versed on this company or its reels, just thought it was worth a look see! Your Ohio Conection on Lake Erie at 53 degrees, Col. M. Lorens aka SWIM JIG
how'd you find that? They won't let me play in there - no links at all.
It is a beautiful reel. It's a combination of brass and alloy. I bet the brass used to be nickeled. The red copper color is dezincified brass - the reel must have been green and ugly before it was cleaned.
Yes, you're right Steve, I looked at it on another monitor - looks like a patina and there's little corrosion and no pits on the alloy.
Last edited by Ron Mc on Tue May 24, 2005 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It IS a beautiful reel, and the brass doesn't look very red on my monitor. Hard to imagine why they would have plated the brass parts, when they look so good this way against the clean aluminum, much like some Hendryx reels.
Hi all, one of the worlds truly great reels. I have seen about 5 in 20+ years. It is all original alloy and brass. The brass usually has that redish look to it. It was made by J.W. Young for Wyres Freres, (French for Wyres Brothers).
They had a business in Reditch England and in Paris. They were related to Warner another famous Reditch tackle maker. The last one of these reels I saw sold for £3500, approx $6,500.
I do not know of any other multiplying free spool reel made before this(1902)
It has the capability of operating in free spool mode with the gears engaging once the handle is turned.
In 1859, William Henry Herbert had this to say about the two earliest extant American reel patents:
"Bailey’s Patent, and Deacon’s Improved Patent, are both admirable, whether in brass or German silver. By pressing in or drawing out the collar of the crank shaft, the wheels can be locked either in or out of gear in a moment."
By 1902, many freespool clutches, some automatic, not only had been patented here, but had been marketed successfully on various multipliers. There also were British patents granted for multiplier clutches, certainly by the mid-1890s and apparently by the late-1880s. Some were issued to U.S. inventors. I'd guess that it was the relative unpopularity of multipliers in general that postponed the manufacture of the freespool devices.
cool-thumb 
USA take a look at this reel, is it as stated? its a Wyers Freress Reel ebay # (5201043399) looks to be a lot of hand work done on it, (I am not versed on this company or its reels, just thought it was worth a look see! Your Ohio Conection on Lake Erie at 53 degrees, Col. M. Lorens aka SWIM JIG 
