Early 1960s SHAKESPHERE SPIN WONDER QUESTION

[REXOPHONE]

I am cleaning up and lubing my dad’s fishing reels I remember him using in the early 1960s. The last one is his Shakespeare Spin-Wonder 2064. It’s a wonderful machine inside and continues to make me proud of American craftsmanship in that time. But the aluminum crank is snapped off and I need to find a replacement. Since the grease pretty much turned to concrete and the crank screw is aluminum, I figure that led to the damage. I thought I would drill out half the crank hub and pin a threaded rod in place until I realized the crank is a left-hand thread.

So it looks like the best plan is to wait until I happened upon a replacement crank (the bare aluminum model, not painted), or it until I find a parts reel.

But looking at the various Spin-Wonders of the same vintage online, I saw a box that said “left-hand model.” From the pictures in my brochure I see that mine has the crank on the left side. So here is my question-- Is the crank for this vintage of Spin-Wonder always a left-hand thread? I want to be sure I find the right crank.

I do have a second question. Most of the reels like mine I see on the Internet are Model 2065. Mine is a 2064 which doesn’t seem to pop up at all. Does anyone know the difference? Again, just want to be sure I find the right crank.

Thanks,
Steve

[Midway Tommy D]

Steve,
There is really no difference between the 2064 & 2065. Shakespeare just changed the number in 1961 when they introduced the 2064 (2065 came first in 1960). Parts are interchangeable, including the crank handle. They are reverse thread. Shakespeare did not make a left hand, i.e. right hand wind model, so they will all be reverse threaded. Shakespeare parts from those and the Maroon series are somewhat hard to come by. Be patient and keep watching, one may surface, but you may have to buy a parts reel and cannibalize it as it may be cheaper than buying just a handle.

[Eric J]

Is the snapped off threaded part one piece with the handle hub or is it a threaded insert into the handle hub? If it is one piece, I would put the hub in my lathe and bore it out so it could be tapped for the correct size left-hand thread, cut the head off of a stainless left-hand screw and insert it with epoxy or tite-bond thread lock. That should hold up for another 200 years.

[REXOPHONE]

Tom, thanks so much. That is exactly what I needed to know.

Eric, it is all one piece with the hub, not an insert. Yes, that's what I've been thinking if a parts reel doesn't show up after a while. Thank you so much.

Steve

[Bill Sonnett]

Bought a 2065 in 1960 and fished it for about 9 or 10 years. The bail turned the opposite way as the #300 Mitchell I bought in 1969. I used the reel in both fresh and salt water. It had one major flaw. Whenever placed in a car to travel anywhere the handle unscrewed and fell off, the threaded sleeve holding the handle assembly together fell off, and most aggravating was the fact that the nut holding the bail and roller assembly together would vibrate off leaving sundry parts loose to roam about the car!

[john elder]

Hmmmmm… was alcohol involved, Bill??

[Bill Sonnett]

No John, I was 16 in 1960.