Fly Reel technology & History

[Cal]

A shout out to all you history buffs out there:

When were fly reels first anodized rather than enameled and when were the first machined barstock reels manufactured ?

Curious minds want to know.................

[oldtrout]

http://www.orcaonline.org/index.html

Above is the place to pose your question

[Cal]

http://www.orcaonline.org/index.html

Above is the place to pose your question

Appears to be a site devoted to OLD reels, I am interested to know when the era of high tech modern fly reels began, but thanks.

[pgw]

I'm thinking that the bar stock-anodized stuff started in the early 80's with the Ross R series & George Gerke's reels.

Paul

[David Lee]

As far as I know .....

Bill Stutz was the first to make a pretty much corrosion-proof reel . The Stutz Estuary was designed w/ Dave Inks and has a dyed-Olive , type 3 anodized finish . It is made from Aluminium , 303 Stainless Steel , and urethane rubber (I think it was a cast frame and machined spool ?? ) . They pre-date Abel reels by a few years and were produced in the very early 80's .

I will post some photos when I have more time -

David

[Darian]

Seems to me that Fin-Nor made reels that were finished with anodizing long before the '60s. Fin-Nor began reel mfg in 1936. I can't recall the exact year I first saw a Fin-Nor, "wedding Cake" model but it has to've been in the early 60's. They're considered antique collectibles now. :nod:

Also, I have 2 Langley, "Reelcast" baitcasters that I bought in the mid '50's that were both made from aluminum and have anodized reel side plates on them. They were made many years prior to my purchase. :nod:

Many of the earliest big game salt water fly reels were machined from brass. Those reels were HEAVY.... I can't say when the use of aluminum began but it had to be earlier than the '70s.... :confused:

Bill ought to be able to give us some history on this one....