Cortland wraps?
- Thread starter srober40
- Start date
merylane said:
Maybe my question was not clear. I have an old fiishing reel with line that resembles irish linen. I believe it is Cortland fishing line. It is green and white in color. Siimilar in diameter to irish linen. Is this the same material that was used to wrap cues before the supplies of it dried up?
Thanks,
Scott
srober40 said:
You should be able to tell if it is linen just looking at it and feeling it. Problem could be though when they used that stuff years ago after a day of fishing they would wrap it onto a big open spool like 2 feet across to dry it or it would rot. It may not be of much good anymore. I have seen old linen fishing line you could just break with your fingers.
macguy said:
That's probably what It Is. I had a few penn reels that were loaded with the stuff. It is very strong, hence was used on some of the larger reels. Sometimes only a portion of the line was Dacron, and was used like steel is, because It was harder for a fish to cut the line, then standard line, if used simular to a long liter made from steel. I thought about trying a wrap made from it many years ago, but never gave it a shot. It's color was white with green specks If I remember correctly.
Thanks for all of the information. I will have to look at it in greater detail. I have two old reels that my grandfather used for fishing up in Canada. One has the line in question and the other has steel line. I think he used them for trolling for lake trout.
Regards,
Scott
Regards,
Scott
Before i "retired" 10 years ago, I was the 3rd owner of our family sporting goods company. My grandfather started it in 1928, then my father was the boss after he came back from the war in 1952, then my self in 1975.
Our company bought Cortland direct from the factory, and we wholesaled it for years. Cortland is a brand name. They made, in the ole days, fishing line and rod building component line. In the old-old days, probably before the 50s or so, the line was linen. Fisherman used to strip their reels, and let the line dry after a fishing trip, so the line would not wrot. Then wind it back up. My father and I did a lot of off shore fishing, and guess what job I had.
Later synthetics started coming out, and Dacron was used in their fishing line, so it would not wrot as fast. Monofiliment now is the other competitor to Dacron.
As Blud said, we sold Cortland in different diameter sizes for wrapping eyes on rods. Most were linen, so it was real soft, and colorful, and was sealed with 2 part epoxy, which used to yellow, and all the problems of cuemaking finishes will apply here also.
If you have some old reels of Cortland, I hate to disappoint, but it's strength is probably shot by now. Grab it and give a brisk tug between your hands. If it snaps apart, you have linen, and it is too old. If it resists, then put a match to it, and if melts black, you have Dacron based linen.
My hot air and my opinion
RWOMEL
Our company bought Cortland direct from the factory, and we wholesaled it for years. Cortland is a brand name. They made, in the ole days, fishing line and rod building component line. In the old-old days, probably before the 50s or so, the line was linen. Fisherman used to strip their reels, and let the line dry after a fishing trip, so the line would not wrot. Then wind it back up. My father and I did a lot of off shore fishing, and guess what job I had.
Later synthetics started coming out, and Dacron was used in their fishing line, so it would not wrot as fast. Monofiliment now is the other competitor to Dacron.
As Blud said, we sold Cortland in different diameter sizes for wrapping eyes on rods. Most were linen, so it was real soft, and colorful, and was sealed with 2 part epoxy, which used to yellow, and all the problems of cuemaking finishes will apply here also.
If you have some old reels of Cortland, I hate to disappoint, but it's strength is probably shot by now. Grab it and give a brisk tug between your hands. If it snaps apart, you have linen, and it is too old. If it resists, then put a match to it, and if melts black, you have Dacron based linen.
My hot air and my opinion
RWOMEL
Fishermen are a tough bunch to accept change, so when dacron appeared on the market it was made to resemble the old linen, green spot and all. Id be wary of old used line as it may be weak, need cleaning or have nicks in it. If you want the old stuff, good luck.
Hell, I dont know nuthin, I just build fishin rods,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hey Blud, ever wrap a cue with dacron ?
Hell, I dont know nuthin, I just build fishin rods,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hey Blud, ever wrap a cue with dacron ?
billfishhead said:
My Dad and his buddy use to go after kings mostly about 15-20 years back, but sometimes would hit the wrecks for grouper, and they would make there own rods from the old solid core sam scotts & such, they would strip them down, and use the blanks to build the rods, then put good reels on them. They outfitted the boat with rods they built like that, and they held up very well. They use to get into some nice tuna tuna every once & a while, and they held up to them nicely also. This is the main reason I'm familiar with the dacron.
The linen on the other hand, I found on reels that were My grandfathers, one of the many things he did in his time was building Chriscraft type mahogany boats on lakes, and the reels were smaller, so I suspect they were used in fresh water.
The linen would rot, and become very weak, but the dacron seemed to be pretty tuff. I did a few wraps on the handle of a cue with some dacron from a reel I had loaded with it, and It did have an unusual pattern from what I remember, not really what you would expect on a cue, but unsual just the same. Not sure what it would have looked like if I had done the whole handle, and actually went with the wrap that way. Like mentioned already, From what I could tell also, the feel was'nt that good, so that kind of turned me off to the idea, and i never bothered try to find a new spool of the stuff. it was getting hard to find by that time anyway, and expensive from what I heard, so did'nt seem worth persueing.
dacron comes in different colors ( tan, white and black ) I can only remember a few. Also in different line weights or thickness. I expect that it would be better than the nylon that some cheap cues use especially if waxed and pressed.
btw that pattern that people are refering to is called a morie in thread talk. It happens when two threads of different colors are twisted around each other and wrapped as one. This thread is refered to as verigated.
there is another thread that is refered to as ,,,,space dyed,,, this stuff will yeild alternating rings of usually two colors ( although ive seen several different colors ) you may find this on your grandfathers rods holding the guides in place ( usually in red/yellow )
I use a combination of the two on one of my popular bait rods as a decorative wrap,,,,,,,,,blue/silver verigated,,,,,then,,,,,,,,red and white space dyed,,,,,,,,,,in order to make an American flag
btw that pattern that people are refering to is called a morie in thread talk. It happens when two threads of different colors are twisted around each other and wrapped as one. This thread is refered to as verigated.
there is another thread that is refered to as ,,,,space dyed,,, this stuff will yeild alternating rings of usually two colors ( although ive seen several different colors ) you may find this on your grandfathers rods holding the guides in place ( usually in red/yellow )
I use a combination of the two on one of my popular bait rods as a decorative wrap,,,,,,,,,blue/silver verigated,,,,,then,,,,,,,,red and white space dyed,,,,,,,,,,in order to make an American flag
Thanks to everybody for the history lesson as well as the valuable info. I will have to check it out to see what it is.
My grandfather was an avid fisherman, and I have inherited that trait also. (Even though I did not inherit his box full of original wooden plugs and lures.) He would take yearly trips to Canada for lake trout and northerns, as well as fishing locally in Pennsylvania. My mother's vacations when she was a child were spent fishing with my grandfather and grandmother in Northern Ontario. The kind of places where you would have to drive an hour to get milk, hang your food from a tree because of the bears, and give packs of cigarettes to the guides for them to take you to the hot fishing spots.
I was only able to go fishing once with my grandfather before he passed. a very fond memory remains.
I have followed a slightly different path with fly-fishing for trout as my primary fishing interest. (catch and release)
Regards,
Scott
My grandfather was an avid fisherman, and I have inherited that trait also. (Even though I did not inherit his box full of original wooden plugs and lures.) He would take yearly trips to Canada for lake trout and northerns, as well as fishing locally in Pennsylvania. My mother's vacations when she was a child were spent fishing with my grandfather and grandmother in Northern Ontario. The kind of places where you would have to drive an hour to get milk, hang your food from a tree because of the bears, and give packs of cigarettes to the guides for them to take you to the hot fishing spots.
I was only able to go fishing once with my grandfather before he passed. a very fond memory remains.
I have followed a slightly different path with fly-fishing for trout as my primary fishing interest. (catch and release)
Regards,
Scott
hell no, hee hee
We even had sails made of dacron, for our sailboats. They would last a long time and would not stretch in heavy weather when racing.Other than that, didn't care for the stuff.
blud
No I never have. Never did like change, and never did like dacron. Linen, leather, or wood wraps for me.billfishhead said:
We even had sails made of dacron, for our sailboats. They would last a long time and would not stretch in heavy weather when racing.Other than that, didn't care for the stuff.
blud
hey blud,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,think ill take an unlimited class rod blank and make a break cue,,,,,,,,,,,lol
fishin and grazin
I would like to see some of your work on rods.
Now a days, with ceramic and graphic guides and eyes, it's easy to make things look real nice.
Need you address and number, next time I'm head your way, we can have some fried fish, check out your rods you build, shoot the breeze, play some one hole for a couple days.
blud
830-232-5991
Hey Bill, Lets get together and jaw a little about cues and rods.billfishhead said:
I would like to see some of your work on rods.
Now a days, with ceramic and graphic guides and eyes, it's easy to make things look real nice.
Need you address and number, next time I'm head your way, we can have some fried fish, check out your rods you build, shoot the breeze, play some one hole for a couple days.
blud
830-232-5991