Info Needed on "Old" Micky Bees...Hopefully.

[skinmech]

I got these as part of a joblot, Dude says they are first generation original Micky Bees, from well before the Starline mass produced stuff. I have tried searching google, e-mailing direct "sort-of, lol" to get more info, but, no luck so far...Can any of my fellow forum members shed any light on these...I know they are the real deal, coils,contact , soldered lugs and fittings are consistent. And they look as if they have been at the bottom of a Pond for years.. but, it's the Colour...I can't remember if Micky's early machines were this Purple/Blue colour. Paintwork certainly looks original, and the wrapping of the coils, it looks like two people were wrapping them, the rear coil on the Dial is almost identical to the front Coil on the Sting machine and the rear coil on the Sting, is identical to the front coil on the Dial...Thanks in advance..

[OwlsDen]

Looks like sharpz not Bee to me. But I don't know how many overlap models there are. They both made the rotary dial. I personally have one of each. But the purple color looks like the lineagraph from Sharpz. Same with the micro dial looks like a sharpz. The rotary dial is too hard to see clearly. If it is purple I would say sharpz as well but the geometry looks close to the old Bee that I have. Any markings on them?

[skinmech]

Hey Owlsden, I have been over the frames with an eye loup, and no markings anywhere, I checked where you would find M Sharpz markings, and there is nothing under the paintwork...I believe the paintwork is genuine, as there is years of muck on the frame, and the paint is the same colour underneath the muck...I don't want to clean the paint in case they are first gen machines...The state of the coils, the solder on the lugs all point to an early machine...I have came across the contact screws before on 1985-90 Sharpz machines..I believe at one time both M Sharpz and M Bee were in the same camp, hence the similarities...The M Bee lightening frame (I called it a Sting earlier, my mistake,) is almost identical to the Linograph....The only clue I have between the 2 machines I have is the Lightening/Linograph framed machine is thicker than the Dial framed one..In fact is is identical to the thickness of M Sharpz frame sizes..

[skinmech]

Here is a closer view of the Linograph/Lightening machine.I honestly don't think it has been cleaned in years.....

[The Limey]

Here is a closer view of the Linograph/Lightening machine.I honestly don't think it has been cleaned in years.....

Probably decades looking at that lol!

[OwlsDen]

Hmm, that almost looks like a last wrap of only 1/3 on that rear coil. I think that could be a builders signature of sorts.

I have an old Bee frame and it is much thicker than the newer ones. I am going to say that they are most likely 90s frames. I am no expert on this by any means. I am just guessing based on other machines of the same era. The micro dial is the revised geometry and it looks a bit tall. I don't know if it would be late 90s or early 2000s. However if that one is real I would suspect some markings as it doesn't look painted. Nothing inside the side plate of any of them?

[OwlsDen]

Oh and the Bee frames are less likely to have any markings so you may be correct in guessing bee over sharpz.

Also if I remember correctly Sharpz built machines for Bee, then split and did his own thing with mostly the same machine designs. Although most were of his design.

[skinmech]

Yeah, do you see what I mean about the coils, the coils are the same on both machines, ie one is fine (for it's age), and the other looks like a signature or 1/3 wrap coil...That's why I assume both come from the same Builder..I will get them stripped down and cleaned tonight, and see if any marks on inside of frame...

[OwlsDen]

Good luck and please share what you find. My old bee used to have the sticker on it but that was gone years ago. I will double check it for marks too.

[OwlsDen]

ok I did a quick strip and here are pics. No markings that i can find. but here are a few pictures.
photo 4.jpgphoto 3.jpgphoto 1.jpgphoto 2.jpgphoto 5.jpg
sorry for the iPhone pics. This one is from the mid 90s from what I remember. hope this helps.