Reel seat Numbers, Up or Down?

[Reeltyme]

Quick easy question. When reassembling a freshly cleaned vintage reel, does it matter if the reel number (yardage indication) or the name that is printed on the bottom of the reel seat, face the back plate or the handle side? Or does it matter? I only ask this in case the manufacturers had a standard for this or not. I see them both ways and I like to face mine so they can be read when holding the reel from the handle side. Let me know your thoughts???

[m3040c]

Quick easy question. When reassembling a freshly cleaned vintage reel, does it matter if the reel number (yardage indication) or the name that is printed on the bottom of the reel seat, face the back plate or the handle side? Or does it matter? I only ask this in case the manufacturers had a standard for this or not. I see them both ways and I like to face mine so they can be read when holding the reel from the handle side. Let me know your thoughts???

I have asked myself that question many times and I always tell myself the same answer. It does not matter. I guess I could be wrong and the answer I feel relates to the reels we are talking about. If we are referring to a vom Hofe reel, then it matters because there are serial numbers and models numbers stamped into the stands and those number have particular position that they should be read from. In terms of a Penn or Ocean City reel, I do not think it matters. IMHO

[oc1]

I put them back the way I found them in case there was some hand fitting done by the maker.
-steve

[wrong99]

I always note which way they face, just in case, although it probably doesn't matter for most of the reels I disassemble and clean. I haven't counted, but most seem to face toward the face plate. In other words, if you're holding the reel up and reading it, the face plate would be on top. Update: Surprisingly, I just checked 14 early Shakespeare and Montague reels and it was exactly 50/50.
Mark

[Alan Baracco]

My Opinion,

William Shakespeare Jr. to William Shakespeare III:

"Billy, why do you only assemble 6 reels a day when everyone else does 10?"

Billy:

"Because they are sloppy and pay no attention to the direction of the foot stampings."

WS Jr.

Well Billy, get with the program, grab a foot from the bin and start screwing it on, time is money. By the way, I docked your pay 40% this week!"

Billy's reels were 50/50 from then on.

[Brian F.]

Sometimes, the foot comes with a longer end on one side and I've felt that the shorter end would sit towards the rear as it's mounted on the rod. Under a very heavy strain, it seemed that the longer ends would tend to bend and pull out from a leverage standpoint. I don't know if they were actually meant to be used in that orientation but based on bent feet that I've seen, that's the way I'd design reels.

[Alan Baracco]

Excellent point, Brian, I guess I was just keyed in to rod Clips (as Langley called the foot and its pillars) that were symmetrical on both sides. For Langley that is only the fly reels, all of the bait casters rod clips can only be put on one way because the tailplate side is of one thickness and the headplate side (due to the gearing, etc) is of another thickness. As I think of it, aren't most casting reels that way? Or are we talking about feet that are screwed onto the pillars? I get confused so easily these days!

Alan

[jimbofish]

all of the bait casters rod clips can only be put on one way because the tailplate side is of one thickness and the headplate side (due to the gearing, etc) is of another thickness. As I think of it, aren't most casting reels that way?

It occurred to me that the answer to whether there was an industry standard orientation of the lettering might be in those reels, where the foot was permanently attached to the pillars at the factory. However, a quick check of several reels on my shelf showed no consistency, even between identical models of the same reel. Your story about the dialog between the Shakespeare's might be right on.

[john elder]

Here''s a little prototype from the Stead estate that i believe had never been apart until i opened it up to see whats inside. So, i'm fairly confident this is the way AJ did it: