Vintage Hardy Bros reel help.

[aaran]

Hi guys.

 

Just out of intrest i stumbeled across my grandfarthers old fishing gear in the garage, we moved house not long ago and these always sat in the garage in a hand made box he built. Anyway i just decided to google a few names and was quite surprised to see how much vintage reels can sell for (on this note i have no intrest in parting with any of this stuff, im only 26 and this is the only thing he left me when he passed away 15 years ago)

 

anyway to the point, the reel is stamped: THE "HARDEX" REEL if i take the spool off the top on the brass plate there are two initials stamped into it ( AP ) . it still has a very fine line attatched to it and it still has its original brown box with white string to hold the lid on. (no other things in the box though, instructions etc)

 

its stamped No 1 Mk 3. on the silver "tag! on the reeling mech punched into it is: BRIT.PAT.

No 471218

 

does anyone know how much this is worth as a guide price, also whom made it. i would just post photos up now but its dark and my digital camrea is rubbish under false light!.

 

also in the box is a Daiwa fly reel 232. its mint, and even has the instructions in the box, even the unit and line looks unused. (it still has some examanation stamp tag in there to) even the original price tag is on there (£1-62 and a half! )

 

also there is a boxed edgar sealey reel (again boxed , no instructions though) there is a model name FlyLyte.

 

there is a nice looking fly rod in there to, a three piece dark brown rod with a cork grip, the rod is hexagonal in shape (it has 6 faces going around it) and seem to have brass fittings etc. there are NO marking of a particular band on it , the only thing i can see on the brass sections where they push fit togeter there is a number punched into them (from the base upwards) 25, (bottom of the middle piece) 15, (top of the middle) 13, (bottom of the top) 41, (top) nothing. any idea how i can id this rod? it could well have had a name painted onto its varnish finish but has rubbed off over time. the case/bag it is in has no tags etc on it either, it just appears to be plain. oh, at the very bottom of the rod handle is a machine turned rubber grommet type thing?

 

there are a few fly boxes to and some other stuff.

 

any help/info you can provide would be great!

 

cheers

 

Aaran

[bluerinse]

Hi Aaron

Not sure were you live but try taking the items to your local auction house, most have a sporting goods sale 2-3 times a year, the auctioneer will value them for you free of charge. Tell him you are considering to put them in the auction.

Failing this a little research on the Internet can give you a ruff Idea how much they are worth, condition is everything when it comes to value, mint reels will sell for more than double a used reel.

There are also books on collecting vintage tackle these can also give you a good idea of value, make sure you get a recent edition.

 

Anyway I am pleased you are not selling try displaying them on a shelf they will look great.

 

Cheers

[Dunk Fairley]

The Hardex is a lovely little fixed spool reel, which would grace any collection. The AP stamped inside indicates that the engineer who made it, was Addie Pringle, who made the reels between 1933 - 1939, when I believe the war caused a lack of raw materials (but I can't confirm this). If you look at the Hardy site:

http://hardy.hardybc.com/reelmakers.php

You can see that not a lot of reels (if any) were produced during the war, and it looks like Hardy only really started agin in 1948, which tallies really, as a lot of metal was still hard to get until then.

The Daiwa and the Edgar Sealey reels, are also quite nice, but for some reason, aren't as sought after. The rod, being a fly rod, although nice as well, will unlikely be worth a mint. A lot of cane rods were rebuilt by the owners when they bent after a certain amount of use. the rings were taken off, and re-whipped on the oppostie side of the rod, to counteract the semi-permanent bend put in by playing fish. Often the maker's name label, or Indian ink wrinting, would be sanded off. What colour are the whippings? There are only one or two makers of sought after rods for collectors, which has a bearing on the value. Does it have what are called "intermediatte" whippings as well? These are small whippings, in between the eye whippings, and are spaced about 1/2" apart. Also, on the joints, are the tubes straight, with parrallel sides, or are they stepped (or even slightly curved)?

Believe it or not, some of the fly boxes could be the most valuable things. Old fly boxes are very sought after, as are the contents, especially if the boxes carry name plates. These can be quite small, but will have a manufacturers name.

[aaran]

thanks for the info

 

for the rod the whippings (ill just call it fine string lol ) is very thin and is black in colour (they have been varnished over with a stain like the rest of the rod, so they could be navy maybe?) it has intermediate whippings about an inch and a half away from each eye. the rod metal end peices are turned metal, also like those old chairs you see that have been lathe turned.

 

i have all sunday off so ill whip the digi camrea out and get some piccies. there is another fly trod thats a round cane i think (its cream in colour) and has green fine string. though it looks pretty battered and there is no top to it lol. again it has no markings at all.

 

cheers

[Dunk Fairley]

I look forward to the pics, but I can't promise anything