Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

The purpose of this board is to discuss, ask questions about, and give answers concerning fly reels, their makers and their history.

Moderator: Ken M 44

User avatar
bow river
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 2491
Joined: 08/20/07 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#21

Post by bow river »

i was doing some research myself as was a 1912 check hardy with the ''D'' stamp on it on that bad site listed awhile ago , and i was hoping to win it , didn't but i found out lots about these so called 1912 check reels

from what i have found out is the check or reels we call 1912 was in fact out in some reels befor the year of 1912 , i think the earlest was 1910 , we tend to call them reels 1912 as that was the year that they first showed up in the 1912 catalogs from hardy

i now beleave that the reels with the 1912 check in them and with the ''D'' stamp in them was made by or checked over by mr dingley , as he left in 1911 , as for some having the numbers , i think that was for the batches that were made or the year that they were made , i don't beleave the would of stamped each reel with a serial number , just the same number for the year or batch that was made , i also think if you look at some of the hardys with the 1906 check in them , you can tell that some were from same years as the strap over the tensioner is not the same on all them , some have a thicker strap , the early ones i think had the thicker strap and i have seen the same strap on all sizes of that same perfect hardy reel , from the 2 1/2 to the bigger sizes

on the brass foot that is bent , it should have 4 screws holding it on , if it was my reel and i was to fix it , i'd soak them screws overnight in liquid wrench and then remove that foot befor trying to straighten it , less chance of maybe breaking that reel , the agate i'd leave it alone , if you can't feel the crack , if you can feel the crack and want it replaced , i know where you can get agates and someone who will swap it out for you ,

nice reel and i want one of them 1912 check hardys for my collection , i don't have one yet as they seem to fetch such great big money , i'll find one someday , i want a small trout one to use , and the only one i ever had my hands on was super smooth and left me with a wet tasting mouth and wanting one badly
Come book a fishing trip with me on Canada's best trout river , the world famous Bow River , also other fine mountain rivers , I collect old Hardys , Dingleys, Youngs , also buy sell & trade

User avatar
cdmoore
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3740
Joined: 03/23/04 19:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#22

Post by cdmoore »

...you're just cheap. Face it, that's the only reason you don't have a 1912-check yet.Image

Your point about removing the foot to avoid dropping the reel is valid, but just be very careful not to strip the threads on those screws.

Oh, and you might want to do the work over a four-times-folded blanket or something...just in case.

C
"Fly fishing is an art, but to become an artist, one must be a beginner." ~ E.C. Powell

User avatar
pcg
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3381
Joined: 11/29/06 19:00
Contact:

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#23

Post by pcg »

Rich, your theory is correct. The response I got from Hardys on the D-stamped 1912 check Perfect I acquired last week is that my reel is a Dingley-made example from 1911.

EDIT: changed 1012 to 1912 for clarity
Last edited by cdmoore on 06/10/09 06:11, edited 1 time in total.
Author:
"Playing With Fire, The Life and Fly Rods of E.W. Edwards"
"D Is For Dingley, The Master Reelmaker" (co-author, Brian Taylor)

User avatar
bow river
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 2491
Joined: 08/20/07 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#24

Post by bow river »

pat
that reel you got coming is the only one i ever had in my hands to play with and it's as smooth as any reel i ever played with , i knew it had the ''D'' stamp when it was sent to me from monty , the only reason i let it go back to him was the size , 3 5/8 is just to big for me to use for a trout reel ,

i like to buy them to collect and it must be one i can fish with also , i made my mind up along time ago that as nice as these reels are , they were made to fish , i'm very carefull when i do take them out , i just think they deserve to be fished some or better maybe i think i just deserve to fish them some befor i'm gone ,

heck someone can look after them after i'm gone , my wife and kids can sell them and blow the money , i don't care so thats why i'm going to fish them while i can ,

i will say that it is very hard to beat the feeling i get when i catch a nice fish on a good bamboo rod and a classic ol reel that is one that alot of guys collect and will not fish ,

mr cd moore
cheep i'm not if the right reel comes along , that last one was the ,shall we say '' perfect size'' for me and after getting some good advice from them so called hardy guys on the value of it , i went above the so called value by 100 pounds on my bid , i still never got it , crazy what some will pay for a good reel , i have enough time to wait it out and i'll get lucky soon enough if i just keep hunting , why don't you sell me one of your 1912 perfects or find me a good one that is 100% correct , i'll drop you a finders fee
Come book a fishing trip with me on Canada's best trout river , the world famous Bow River , also other fine mountain rivers , I collect old Hardys , Dingleys, Youngs , also buy sell & trade

MFRS
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1067
Joined: 01/27/08 19:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#25

Post by MFRS »

pcg wrote:Thanks. BTW, the foot on my reel is unstamped. So there is no pattern there, although my Perfect is one of the earliest w/ the 1912 check. Perhaps later reels got the maker's stamp or some other tracking letter.
Pat, the stamp for the foot was always to organize the parts after completion to bring the original parts back together, there is no tie to the 5 digit number and the foot mark. Your foot may have a number, it may be on the foot where you can't see it, it was only useful to the maker. On my Dingley there are three scratches on the screw that holds the spool on, it is only noticable when the screw is removed.

User avatar
pcg
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3381
Joined: 11/29/06 19:00
Contact:

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#26

Post by pcg »

Gary,
Just in the last 30 minutes received a D-stamped 3 3/4" Hardy-made Silex from the UK. A beauty. It's got 3 dots punched into the side of one of the block pillars on the foot, as well as 3 dots punched into virtually every piece inside.

Rich,
This Perfect will be fished for Steelhead--used the same as Monty used it. A lovely reel. I'm guessing it'll take a nice 7/8-wt line.
Author:
"Playing With Fire, The Life and Fly Rods of E.W. Edwards"
"D Is For Dingley, The Master Reelmaker" (co-author, Brian Taylor)

MFRS
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1067
Joined: 01/27/08 19:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#27

Post by MFRS »

bow river wrote:, i think that was for the batches that were made or the year that they were made , i don't beleave the would of stamped each reel with a serial number , just the same number for the year or batch that was made ,
Rich, after doing some reading in an old Hardy Catalogue I tend to believe in your batch theory, not the year theory. I found it a bit ironic that since Dingley would have been done with Hardy's by Sept, 1911 and with the number in Pat reel being quite close to the the rod # range for 1911 it stands to reason that the batch is most reasonable.
I thought I would try a calculation, lets say Pats Dingley was batch # 57810. Now roughly 27 years at 310 workdays/yr (piece-work). This comes to 8370 days of work, now divide 57810 by 8370 and it comes to 7 batches/day. This seems believeable to me as batches would be based on time frame and not on # of reels /batch; this would explain the consistencies with rod batch #'s being close to reels numbers for 1911.
Just a thought but thanks Rich for you thoughts, I like holes being poked in my theory, keeps me thinking.

User avatar
steel2afly
Sport
Posts: 45
Joined: 08/17/08 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#28

Post by steel2afly »

Wow. Two firsts for me. I actually started a thread that turned out to bring up quite a good amount of information and such. AND I ACTUALLY HAVE A REEL STYLE THAT RICHARD DOESNT HAVE!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!!! Just kidding Rich, I know it wont last for long so I better enjoy it while I can! CD thanks for the step by step on straightening the foot. During the offseason Ive sent the reel to HardyBC and had them make a shorter modern foot, Got some rods that this reel just HAS to be fished with. I will try your method, SLLOWWLY and carefully on the original foot. So about your theory MFRS. Are you theorizing that the five digit number is just the number of 1912 check reels?? or batches?? Just trying to get all these numbers straight and put in a proper place. I think you may have a good theory there. Definatly one worth researching. So I also have a 3 7/8 perfect with a 1906 check and a pretty red agate that has I4(or 14???) on all parts 4 3 6 6 3 with a L below that on the inside face of the frame. So MFRS going by your theory would these be the number? or batch number? of the 1906 reels? The back of the winding plate has GT along with the 14(I4??) . The foot has an A stamped on it. And since were throwing around so many letters and numbers here the bottom of the screw plate base has the number 14 stamped on it also, found this out when I removed the foot to clean up the butcher job a bit and save me from vomiting everytime I look at it. Butchered is an understatement, but how could I pass up a red agate 3 7/8???? It should fish just fine. Heres a couple of quick pics. Good info gentleman, hope your all getting some time on the water. Kevin


Image

Image

User avatar
bow river
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 2491
Joined: 08/20/07 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#29

Post by bow river »

steel2afly
yes that foot is a mess , you should of sent that reel also to hardy b.c '' mr tucker'' and have a replacement foot made , i bet it just drives you up a wall , nice reel but such a ugly foot ,

do you mind telling us how much did it cost you to have that other foot made up on the 1912 check reel , i seen a reel that was busted and going cheep and i bet that reels foot would work on yours , i think a member had a hardy foot on the sale page a month ago also
Come book a fishing trip with me on Canada's best trout river , the world famous Bow River , also other fine mountain rivers , I collect old Hardys , Dingleys, Youngs , also buy sell & trade

MFRS
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1067
Joined: 01/27/08 19:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#30

Post by MFRS »

Yeah, steel2afly, I am getting the feeling that the 43663 you have would be the batch number. The GT would be the makers mark, the 14 for the parts. The L, now this is just a theory, may be the finishers mark and he would have stamped the batch number; I think if the batch numbers was left to the maker to add, then it would have created much room for error. The L gives ownership to the batch number also. My .02 cents worth!

Just a note, Hardy had 79 different rod types being made in 1911 and the number range for that year is 10,399. Now at an estimation of 310 workdays/year gives only 34 rods made /day (based on 10,399 rods that year). Now, think of this number as represents the # of batches in 1911, that's 34 batches/day. This is more reasonable and would work out as 2+ batches/day of each rod type.

User avatar
steel2afly
Sport
Posts: 45
Joined: 08/17/08 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#31

Post by steel2afly »

Yeah they would have went together but the 1912 was already there when the 1906 was purchased. Mr Tuckers service was great, I was definatly nervous sending off that one and sweating it out til it arrived, but he immediatly let me know when it safely arrived. I cant find the reciept but I believe the price was somewhere in the 150 canadian dollar area plus shipping. It was well worth it. I actually tried the original foot from the 1912 on the 1906 and the holes just didnt quite line up. Missed it by that much......... One of these days Ill get that foot situation taken care of on the 1906. Kevin

User avatar
bow river
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 2491
Joined: 08/20/07 18:00

Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#32

Post by bow river »

kevin
get ahold of the member chartist1 , he had a brass foot for a old hardy reel , might work on yours , also try getting ahold of forum member randy law '' the true hardy guy'' he has some feet i think and might be able to help you out , $150 canadian , thats like 20 pounds or 40 u.s , someday i can see our money being on par again
Come book a fishing trip with me on Canada's best trout river , the world famous Bow River , also other fine mountain rivers , I collect old Hardys , Dingleys, Youngs , also buy sell & trade

MFRS
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1067
Joined: 01/27/08 19:00

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#33

Post by MFRS »

This is an old post to bring forward, but I think there is a possibility that 43663 is a Registration # for the name "Perfect" for a particular country. Hardy catalogue year 1928 states the following: The word "Uniqua" is registered under No.B. 434648, so there reels have patent numbers and a registration number. That registration number would keep other competing companies from claiming the "Perfect" reel name for their own reel; it was a world market back then too.

User avatar
firehole
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3457
Joined: 03/22/04 19:00
Location: Island Park ID

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#34

Post by firehole »

Here's a Hardy 3 1/8" 1912 Check I own with a flawless grey agate and a 3 with a "D" stamp standing for Dingley.

Dennis
Click to enlarge
Image

Image
Last edited by firehole on 09/13/22 14:37, edited 4 times in total.

MFRS
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1067
Joined: 01/27/08 19:00

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#35

Post by MFRS »

Beautiful example you have there Firehole!

User avatar
Short Tip
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3443
Joined: 02/26/06 19:00
Location: Old Dominion

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#36

Post by Short Tip »

If it's any help, here's a 1912 check 2 7/8" Perfect with a different number stamp.

Image

Image

Image

Image

User avatar
firehole
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 3457
Joined: 03/22/04 19:00
Location: Island Park ID

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#37

Post by firehole »

Here's some additional pics of my Hardy 3 1/8" Dingley.
Dennis

Click to enlarge

Image

Image

flyuvo
Guide
Posts: 257
Joined: 01/21/17 09:57
Location: Switzerland

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#38

Post by flyuvo »

Hi all, here’s a little 3 1/8 1912 Perfect without a five digit number …. But an 8 on spool and cage …. And a maker’s stamp HW which is not on the well known list of Hardy reel makers….. maybe a late one one of all the 1912s …. ???

Image

Image

Image

Image

Stay safe
Urs

tyghguy
Guide
Posts: 270
Joined: 09/11/18 12:19

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#39

Post by tyghguy »

Those reels are so nice. Thanks for the pics.

J Gustavsson
Master Guide
Posts: 641
Joined: 10/04/13 03:07

Re: Hello and thoughts on this hardy perfect

#40

Post by J Gustavsson »

I have a whole bunch of Perfects with this serial numbers, which is what I think they are.
I'll try to take a few photos later.

Skickat från min Redmi Note 5 via Tapatalk


Post Reply

Return to “Classic Reels”