St George 3" differences in size? Why?

[wilbach1]

I have two three inch St George reels three latch of slightly differing age - why is one distinctly more than 3" when the other is more or less on 3"?
The larger one is almost a three and one eight which of course was never made.
Any ideas, does this occur commonly?

[cdmoore]

.

[jhuskey]

wilbach1, the larger of the two reels is obviously either a factory reject, or possibly even a forgery - in either case, little collector value. Since I could not be classified as a collector, I may be willing to own it if you are ever so inclined... It truely looks like a terrific fishing reel!!!
John

[stlhdr1st]

without wishing to appear rude!are you actually measuring the diameter through the center of the reel?it appears on both pictures that the tape is off center.happy new year!

[Reeldane]

Can you use the spools on either one - iow are the difference on the frame or also on the spool ?

[ibookje]

I once had a 1960's(?) St George and a 1990's reissue version.

Then one day I acquired a spare spool (looks like a 1960's). It only fit the reissue reel....

[J Gustavsson]

I know this a very old thread but since I just found it i would like to add what I've heard about this. According to a very knowledgable person I talked to The Hardy workers got a sandcasted reel frame lump to turn the reel from. Sometimes the lump had flaws, like airpockets, and they had to turn off a little more. Or maybe sometimes they just had a bad day... So the reels can vary in size quite a bit. I recently bought a 3-1/8" perfect that was just under 3" in diameter. I dont think there is anything suspicious about the reels in the pics they just vary in size. Actually I dont think I have many hardy perfects that are spot on the supposed size.

[jhuskey]

Great info J. Both reels in the OP are simply wonderful examples of a great reel that has stood the test of time. I wish I had one as nice, and old.

John

[bvandeuson]

wilbach1, the larger of the two reels is obviously either a factory reject, or possibly even a forgery - in either case, little collector value. Since I could not be classified as a collector, I may be willing to own it if you are ever so inclined... It truely looks like a terrific fishing reel!!!
John

There are so many little variations in otherwise identical old reels, it can be very difficult to tell a forgery from the genuine article. I think the above statement speaks for itself.

Factory variations appear in many products, and for many reasons. Sometimes supply side issues, loss of a valuable worker when hand fitting was DE-rigeur, a change to facilitate manufacturing, etc.

To an uninformed collector, a vintage telegraph key I have might be seen as a forgery, or misguided upgrade attempt, yet the factory (still in business) has indicated it was made that way to keep production up in spite of a supply side shortage of parts for the new model. It's a mix of lower grade and higher grade parts, not normally done.

BB