Penn Sea Ford

[Mike M]

My Dad had this reel in his workbench and gave it to me a few days ago. It looked like a fun project to clean and rebuild. Only one screw had to be replace, but all other parts worked great for being such an old reel. Here's a picture of the cleaned parts and a link to its free spool video.


https://vimeo.com/508006932

[m3040c]

Great reel and not so easy to find. I date it at 1934. Here it is in the 1934 Penn catalog.

[1badf350]

I think its later Mike. Black plate and hex headplate bearing

[m3040c]

Hard to say, could be a year or two later, but not much later. I believe the round head plate bearing disappeared in 1933. It is still in the catalog but not on the reels. Black plates probably happened as soon as the Sea Ford went to four pillars. The Hex handle screw is the sign of an early reel. No later than 1937, ever.

[Cuttyhunker]

WOW, a galactic shift in the universe, well almost. Mr. "Never say never" about Penn's has uttered "ever"...........Perhaps erecting a plaque would be in order

[1badf350]

Looking at my reels you are right about the hex bearing. My 33 has the round bearing and my 34 has a hex bearing. My 34 has the maroon plates though.
The reel posted above, probably 35-37

[Cuttyhunker]

I've leaned to key in on the round bearings as a tell for the 33's, or not 33's from the yo yo auction site posts. Funny how the 34 catalog art reflects the addition of the 4th post, but not the hex bearing, probably reflects the order in which the decisions were made, with the art arriving in between.

[m3040c]

Every time I say never, someone, somewhere bites me. So I decided many years ago to NEVER say NEVER. So, this time I said NEVER and I am being accused of causing a shifting of the Universe. If I would have forecasted having this kind of universe affecting power, in the beginning of my collecting life I would have chosen Duesenberg's instead of Penn reels.

[Mike M]

Thanks for the comments, guys. The reel is older than my Dad. He was born in 1940