Using a vintage brass fly reel

[courty]

Please could anyone with experience of using vintage reels help me out on this one?

My wife treated me to a gorgeous vintage brass fly reel, measuring 2 1/2 inches diameter and the width is a 1 inch gap. I planned to use this with a modern cheap rod and a good quality 3wt fly line on my local small river. I wanted to put a picture with this message, but I don't know how to do it. It's from around 1900, the line wraps around a small brass bar and the reel has three brass struts between the two circular discs.

My 3wt DT Hardy's fly line arrived from ebay and at 30 yards, was too long to put on the reel.
I spooled on a shorter length, with a little backing, and discovered that when I tried to pull off a length by hand (as you would before casting) the line would embed itself on the spool, and stick. This happened continuously, so I scrapped my plan to cut the DT line in half and load it on the reel in case the reel wouldn't work in any case.

I believe that because the line is so modern, it sinks into the spooled line below it before the reel will turn. I've dismantled the reel (fantastic machined instrument by the way) and lubricated it, and it turns as nicely as it can. Is modern line too light and flexible for this reel, or would a larger amount of backing and 15 yards of fly line on a larger circumference do the trick?

I know that the reel is a bit heavy for the rod, but I'd like to be able to use the reel just a few times.

Any advice is welcome. I've already beaten myself up a bit for not buying a light plastic 3wt reel and delving into areas of which I know nothing, but life's an adventure.