Wood is Good!

David M · Post by **David M** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:01 am

Show me a sculpture in any art museum that's as simple, beautiful, and aesthetically pleasing as this classic English reel. Alright maybe that's a stretch, you could probably find something , but did that something help feed a family a century ago! I found this dainty reel on fleabay for twenty two bucks. The wood was very dull, filthy, and neglected, but you could tell by the grain it had potential. A little elbow grease with Kramer's Best Antique Improver (kramerize.com) really brought this wooden jewel back to life. I ran across Kramer's about eight years ago at a local antique store, it's not an item you'll find at your local Wally World. I'm now a firm believer in this concoction, and have already been through a few bottles. After a lot of trial and mostly error with various terps, oils, and waxes on previous wood projects, I still wasn't getting the results I wanted. Most of the time my hapless efforts would just darken and mask the natural colors of the wood. Don't get me wrong, I've done well at times. Those things if done exactly right look terrific, but if you want all of the guess work taken out, and a lustrous and radiant wood finish, this guy has his proportions of all natural substances down to a science. It's simply the best, and easiest all in one product I've found to clean, and preserve my collection. Because of the high quality ingredients, this stuffs not cheap by any means, but neither are all of the other things combined that the experts recommend. I'm not affiliated with this product in any way, and I hope this didn't read like a silly infomercial. David

rockthief · Post by **rockthief** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:03 pm

with the exception of Giorgio Dallari's fine products I find wooden reels to be mostly unattractive to my eyes. Your little reel is a gem, truly lovely. Are you going to fish with it?

David M · Post by **David M** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:00 am

Thank You Rockthief for checking out my photo. I'm not a huge wooden reel fan either, but their essential for a well rounded collection. My faves are the Meisselbach Good luck reels. I do fly fish when I can, but I'm not going to use this reel. There was a MO state record German Brown (28 lbs. 12 oz). caught right behind my place on Lake Taneycomo back in November. If I ever did latch onto a monster like that using this little old reel, I'm not quite sure if I would have the heart attack before, or after it burst into flames from excessive rpm's.

I'm just going to some how clean the dingy oiled silk line that was on it, and wind it back on the reel. Cleaning, and preservation notwithstanding, it's important to keep a reels history trail unbroken, if possible, I think. I stumbled upon a very informative website while researching silk and linen lines http://www.oldandsold.com/articles33n/fishing-4.shtml , there's also sections on reels, rods, flies etc. I did enjoy Dallari Giorgio's reels on his website http://www.dallarigiorgio.it/Sito/MY_REELS.html . Thanks for pointing that out, I've not seen his exquisite work before, their almost too beautiful to get wet. Thanks again -- David

Post by **john elder** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:54 am

That is a beautiful little reel, David and the ones Mr. Giorgio has made are both beautiful and functional. Wood, by necessity, has to be "overbuilt" to provide the needed strength and durability compared to metal. However, there's never been a piece of metal that can match the beauty of even the plainest of woods.

David M · Post by **David M** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:16 am

Thank's John, I agree. As far as beauty and uniqueness, that goes for bamboo rods vs. the man-made stuff too.