Thanks for the quick response, Rick.
Good to know what that protrusion is for... I guess it won't apply to me because I don't have that loader. I do have a Hewes reel, and just now developed a roll. It was indeed easy to load this reel - don't know I happen to have it. It was probably a gift from my fairy godmother.
As you can tell, I'm new here. Been a while, a long while, since I shot a roll of film. I'm happy you folks are here, I like the hybrid approach, film for negs, digital for prints.
Cheers,
Paul