Danville E Thread on Wood Spools

[hackle&hair 0]

I've recently come across about 100 wooden spools of Danville E thread, 50 yards. Being new to fly tying myself I have only seen the plastic spools and I was wondering how old this thread is. Also wondering if these are worth anything? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[utyer 0]

Size E thread was for Rod Building, and it was the largest size of rod building thread. Wooden spools started disappearing in the mid 1970s. I still have a few wood spools, and except for the novelty, they have no great value except maybe to a fan of old rod building supplies. I have spools with 15 cent price tags on them, and that's what I think they are worth.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I've also still got some old thread on wood spools. May even have some E. It's likely that many of us older tyers may have some thread on the wooden spools. As Utyer said, size E was a rod winding thread, but may have been used for tying large jigs. I've seen large bucktail jigs, 4 oz & larger, used for trolling in the Chesapeake Bay for Striped Bass that looked like they were tied with carpet thread, (red mostly) which is about the size of E. Also, some of those jigs are tied with a tying machine that simply wraps the thread and a rather heavy thread is used.

 

As near as I can remember, size A has been the heaviest thread I've used, and that was primarily for large saltwater flies & bucktail jigs. E is a bit heavier.

 

If you have rod winding thread in hard to find colors, that may have a bit more value to a rod builder for repair work, but otherwise not worth much as Utyer has said.

 

Not too sure how popular Danville's rod winding threads have been as I'm not a rod builder, but I've seen Gudebrod's threads, which are no longer made, sell for quite high prices on Ebay compared to readily available threads.

 

You might do better asking about the threads you have on the rod building forum. Also, steeldrifter, a moderator here & professional rod builder may be able to give you some better insight.

[phg 0]

Most fly rods are wrapped with size A thread. Size E is huge, more in keeping with offshore trolling rods. I have used size A thread on size 2 hooks. In all probability the size E would be used on large buck tail jigs, and such.

 

Wooden spools themselves aren't worth much, and the thread is only valuable to someone who needs a specific color for a repair.

[hairwing 0]

100 spools are worth something !

 

What colors you got ? Any variegated ?