Orvis CFO III no line guard?

[brookies_16]

I have an early model CFO III that I have a question about. To help date this reel I can tell you that this CFO has rivets that hold the spring pawl, and is the screw back version, the trademark is also missing after the Orvis logo. I believe when purchasing these early model reels you had the choice of having a line guard on the reel for an additional charge. This reel has the pillar where the lineguard would have been mounted. What is the disadvantage when fishing this reel with no line guard attached to the reel? Can these reels be fitted with line guards? Thank you to anyone who can help me out...

[littledavid123]

My opinion, they look good but doubtful they serve any real purpose on a trout sized reel, saltwater...maybe.

Dave

[sweetandsalt]

Your CFO III has a screw mounted spindle correct? If so it is an early model and this screw should be gently checked for tightness periodicly. If there are not two tapped holes in the line guard pillar it did not come with one which is fine; it is a nice nickle silver touch but not necessary. With or without a line guard anglers should develop the habitual behavior of stripping line forward off the reel never at an angel resulting in line being pulled against he pillar. Further you don't want to modify the reel as that would be inappropriate to its historic character. Enjoy your III with a WF4F and about 85 yds. of #20 backing.

[brookies_16]

Thank you for the explanations. Indeed it does have the screw mounted spindle. The pillar is shaped much like a line guide would be with a foot that sits in the channel of the spool. It does not have holes to mount a guide. Thanks again. Adam

[caseywise]

first off, welcome to the forum adam!
as you can see, there are allot of knowledgeable folks here.
sounds like a sweet old cfo you have there.
there is a great thread called "reel love" on this forum that would be a great place for a picture or two

casey

[chi flyfisher]

Nice pick up. Those screw back CFO's are cool. As has been mentioned, there is no need for the line guard and I wouldn't recommend adding one. For one, you shouldn't need it unless you're routinely pulling line out against it - which I would advise against. Second, as has been mentioned, the reel has historical value as is and altering it would certainly affect it.

I'd love to see a picture of it on the Reel Love thread.

Cheers,
Mike.

[sweetandsalt]

The "T" shaped pillar is also an indicator of early Hardy-built CFO's. It lasted untill the very early 80's and is a little noticed feature. More elegant by far than subsequent cost-cutting blind pillars. Early CFO owners...go to your cabnet and check for this feature!

[chi flyfisher]

Originally Posted by sweetandsalt

The "T" shaped pillar is also an indicator of early Hardy-built CFO's. It lasted untill the very early 80's and is a little noticed feature. More elegant by far than subsequent cost-cutting blind pillars. Early CFO owners...go to your cabnet and check for this feature!

I'll be honest S&S, I have no idea what a T-Shaped Pillar is. Here is my CFO III







I'm assuming you're speaking of the pillar near the line guard?

[brookies_16]

First off thank you everyone for the help. Casey thanks for the welcome. I will upload pictures of the III as soon as my camera is back from being fixed. Unfortunately, my phone is often mistaken as being from the same era as this reel, and you would see more pixels than you would detail. Chi, the pillar you have is what I believe S&S is referring to as being a "blind pillar". The pillar on the reel I have looks like the shape of your line guide, a "T" instead of an "l" like the one in your pictures. I will get some pictures up soon, In the meantime I'm going to geek out on some entomology topics, man I love this place already..... Thanks

[sweetandsalt]

Yours is a well patinaed beauty, Chi. In your first image, where the nickle silver line guard is, the out-of-focus top of the pillar is flat and rectangular in cross-section. In slightly older versions, the pillar flares into a "T" at the top which fits into the recess inside of the palming rim. Around the time the T disappeared so did engraved 'ORVIS CFO' on the back plate replaced with a stamping - you need samples of each next to one another to see the difference clearly. Eclectic details to be sure and nothing to do with performance. I have a CFO IV around here someplace, I'll try to photograph it but not today.