Just read a post on another site, wherein it was claimed by a large Philadelphian Tackle Company that they invented the worm & knife levelwind mechanism. .Which to me seems patently untrue, since the worm & knife infinity screw gizmo is older than the 1930's, when said Tackle Company was founded.
Perhaps they were suggesting that they were first to apply it to a multiplier reel? No- I thought that was by Shakespeare in the 1920's.
Someone at this site is a disciple of levelwind mechanisms. Do they know who was first to apply this infinity screw levelwind gizmo to a reel, and when?
This is the sort of thing I should know already; I've just never had reason to nail it down. Anybody know any early patents?
(And parenthesially, did Old Man Penn ever work for any other tackle company besides Ocean City in the 1930's?)
Doc.
Levelwind Origin Q
The basic "worm and knife" level wind was first applied to a fishing reel by a New Englander in 1860. The patent model is in the Smithsonian. An article on the mechanism itself, used earlier on another kind of machine, appeared in a recent issue of "Reel News."
Shakespeare often has been credited with the invention of the level wind, but as we know, the Shakespeare invention was much later (1897) and quite different--there was no worm, and there was no knife.
Shakespeare often has been credited with the invention of the level wind, but as we know, the Shakespeare invention was much later (1897) and quite different--there was no worm, and there was no knife.
On second thought, the Shakespeare LW had two "worms," but they didn't have grooves cut in both directions, so the LW was not a "worm and knife infinity screw gizmo."
Detailed histories of the level wind are available in my out-of-print book, "Antique Fishing Reels," and in a two-part article published in the NFLCC Magazine in Jan. and June, 1994.
Detailed histories of the level wind are available in my out-of-print book, "Antique Fishing Reels," and in a two-part article published in the NFLCC Magazine in Jan. and June, 1994.
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Harvey
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Level Winds
Steve,
Can we call Shakespeare's design a "Two Worms and a Pin" design? And do you suppose it was made for a fisherman that goes both ways? Just asking!
"H"
Can we call Shakespeare's design a "Two Worms and a Pin" design? And do you suppose it was made for a fisherman that goes both ways? Just asking!
"H"