The Allcock’s Duplex reel is probably one of the simplest of all ideas. On the surface it’s to convert a reel from left to right hand wind, or is it?
Allcock’s in association with a Mr B J Wakeflied of Plymouth jointly sealed a Patent on May 10th 1932.
The production reel became the Allcock’s Duplex reel. I assume Wakefield had some sort of royalty agreement.
I always thought the simple idea of rotating the whole reel 180 degrees gave the option of right or left hand wind – wrong!
The Patent states; “the direction of rotation of the flyer can be changed by turning the reel body through 180 degrees about a pivot”, that pivot being the large screw at the rear.
So the Patent design was to untwist line, a scenario that has plagued lure anglers using spinning reels for years, and still does today.
Initially the spring bail had to be held open with a finger, then later a brass stud was fitted to the stem to hold it open. A large brass dial under the handle makes a smooth, effective drag system.
I’ve owned a couple of these reels with a manual half bail arm too.
So, many variants to collect, original boxes with labels are rare, spare spool, red rubber ring and papers should come with the reel to make the boxed set complete.
Remember – “Don’t chuck it out, check it out!” and contact me at office@thomasturner.com today.
Now why not have a browse through our reels section on Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques!
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