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AMATEUR RODMAKING

AMATEUR
RODMAKING

BY

_ PERRY D. FRAZER,

Illustrated

eect

Number 33

NEW YORK :
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY
MCMXIV

CopyRIGHT, 1914, By
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPA NY

All rights reserved

DEC 15 1914

£ o.7,
©ciasssge22
ws -

CHAPTER

CONTENTS

I. A REVIEW oF FisHinG Rop HIis-

II.
er.

Ly.
We
V1.
VII.

Vill.
1d.
X.
XI.
Delt.
XIII.

XIV.
XV.

XVI.
XVII.

Pe TORY .. :
FISHING Rop Narherae :
MOUNTING AND FINISHING Ma-
TERIALS .
Toots NEEDED IN Powiacine :
Types oF BattT-CAsTING Rops
ONE-PIECE BaAIT-CASTING Rops .
ONE-PIECE BaitT-CasTING Rops
WITH SEPARATE HANDGRASPS .
Two-Piece BAIT-CASTING Robs .
THREE-PIECE BAIT-CASTING Rops
SALT-WATER Rops 3
Bass AND TRouT Fiy-Rops .
SALMON FLy-Rops
ON THE HISTORY OF THE can
BamBoo Rop
SPLIT BAMBOO Rangaac. FOR
THE BEGINNER .
SPLIT BAMBOO ee FOR
THE Aer WORKERS .
WINDING Rops - :
VARNISHING ae ea he

PAGE

iS
30

50
69
75
80

96
IOI
107

legge (9 ie

a EEF
2a

ILLUSTRATIONS

Nonagonal and Octagonal Cane Rods : : . WAGE? 21
An Eighteen-strip Rod «. : ; : : 3 jameaeS.
Serrated Ferrules . F : : : : 4 SF 52

Mts

Split Ferrules

Plain Capped and Welted Ferrules . : : : Ba ee

Sectional View of Doweled Ferrules P é : ait eS
Reelseat for a Single Handgrasp ‘ 5 , : Ct aon
Cord-wound Pine Handgrasp . ; : , : pees
Split Bamboo Tournament Rod : ‘ é : malt:
Tarpon Rod . ; : : : : ‘ : Se
Split Bamboo Bass Fly Rod 2 ; ; : uaa Ws)

Method of Attaching Winding : ; 2 ea ees

FOREWORD

N “ Rodmaking for Beginners” I tried to
I write in a brief and plain manner for the
guidance of novices. The temptation to
branch off the narrow, straight trail, and give
the fullest details in working out the various
problems was very great. I have been criti-
cised by some expert rodmakers, but to balance
these criticisms I have been told by many nov-
ices that they were enabled to follow directions
because of their simplicity. The scope of that
book was, therefore, restricted; in this one,
however, I have endeavored to go deeper into
interesting branches of rodmaking for the
benefit of anglers who possess more or less
skill in working with edged tools.

The army of young—and other—men who
are fond of doing things themselves is very
large, and growing. To them this book may,
I trust, prove to be helpful.

Parts of “‘ Rodmaking for Beginners” are

10 FOREWORD

included in this volume. Acknowledgment is
made to the publishers of Forest and Stream
and Field and Stream for permission to reprint
in this volume parts of articles which appeared
in those publications.
THE AUTHOR.
Ridgewood, N. J., April, 1914.

AMATEUR RODMAKING

CHAPTER i
A REVIEW OF FISHING ROD HISTORY

HEN we speak of fishing rods to-day,
reference is invariably made to those
rods that consist of two or three

parts fitted with splices or ferrules for greater
convenience in carrying to and from the fish-
ing grounds.

Without question the best rod is one made
of a single piece, or of strips rent and glued,
but with no joint or ferrule to interfere with
its resilience and action.

That it is next to impossible to carry a full
length rod on trains and in other conveyances
is obvious; hence the skill of amateur and pro-
fessional rodmakers is constantly directed to-
ward the task of making the two or three
joint rods as nearly perfect in every way as is
possible under the circumstances. That they
succeed very well indeed is evident in the beau-
tiful rods now used in fishing and in tourna-
ment casting.

For several centuries all of the best fishing

13

144 AMATEUR RODMAKING

rods were made in Great Britain.- There solid
wood rods were the favorites; in fact—with
the exception of rods made with spliced cane
and whalebone tips—the only rods used until a
comparatively short time ago, when the rent
and glued cane rods invented and made by
Americans were adopted abroad. Even to-
day solid wood rods are extensively used in
Great Britain. Their manufacturers have
never been very successful in competing with
the best American hexagonal split bamboo rods,
and some of their fly-rods are made up from
split-and-glued material purchased in the
United States and sold as English rods.
High grade American split bamboo rods, too,
are well known and liked over there.

Hickory has been largely used in England
for parts of medium and heavy fly-rods, the
material being shipped from the United States
and Canada in billet form. Other materials
are: Ash, lancewood, whalebone and cane
combined; ash and lancewood in combination;
willow, blue mahoe, washaba (our bethabara),
whole cane, greenheart, and greenheart and
whole cane combined. For a number of years
greenheart alone, or greenheart in combina-
tion with whole cane, was a standard rod ma-
terial there, but this is of comparatively recent
adoption, as angling writers of fifty years ago

FISHING ROD HISTORY 15

seldom refer to greenheart. Alfred Ronalds,
writing in 1836, said:

“The best materials are, ash for the stock,
lancewood for the middle, and bamboo for the
top.”

Mr. Ronalds had in mind the whole bamboo
which, according to later writers, was first im-
ported into England by army officers returning
from India. They, however, looked on it with
favor because it was ideal for lances, and per-
haps their preference for the thick-walled
canes, now called ‘“‘ male’’ bamboos, led to the
belief that was prevalent for many years, that
this was better for rodmaking purposes than
the thin-walled ‘“‘ female” canes. Exhaustive
tests with scientific instruments have proved
the thin-walled bamboo better for the pur-
pose. ,

Theophilus South, in his “‘ Fly-Fisher’s Text
Book” (London, 1845), prefers ash to willow
for butts, hickory for middle joints, and favors
tips made from lancewood, cane, and whale-
bone, spliced together—four and even five
pieces in a tip.

The African greenheart, obtainable in the
yards of the importers in Stanley Road, Liver-
pool, is probably much better material for fish-
ing rods than the greenheart sold in the United
States, which comes from various places in the

146 AMATEUR RODMAKING

tropics. That which comes through Liverpool
is picked over by the British buyers, and our
importers must take what is left. This prob-
ably accounts for the growing scarcity of first
class greenheart. Not a few of our rodmakers
decline to guarantee this material, which is most
excellent for the purpose when it is good.

Early fishing rod materials in the United
States were: Ash and lancewood in combina-
tion; hickory, mahoe, greenheart, washaba
(bethabara), snakewood, beefwood, cedar,
osage orange, shadblow, ironwood, dagama,
peppercane, Calcutta bamboo, our Southern
canes, jucara prieto, and many others.

Years ago it became a common practice to
saw or rive strips of wood, plane these square,
glue four pieces together and plane round to
form rod joints. The belief was that joints so
made were much stronger and less likely to
break than would be the case with a joint made
from a single piece of wood. ‘This method
was followed by splitting strips of bamboo,
planing two sides of each strip and glueing four
of them together to form a joint, then planing
the latter round. This was made possible by
placing the enamel side of the bamboo within
the strip, as shown by the shaded lines in
Fig. 1.

FISHING ROD HISTORY 17

iby
<i/

Fig. 1. Fig. 2,

The enamel surface being slightly convex, it
was difficult to work and glue these strips to
form nice joints, and this method, which seems
to be ideal in other respects, gave way to one
in which the enamel was placed on the outside,
and the section made almost octagonal in form
by means of planing off the corners, as shown
by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. This method is
still followed to a certain extent by amateurs
in making tips, and for the beginner at split
bamboo rodmaking, it has many points of ex:
Getenee. Lhe principal ones are that it is
easier to make a joint of four than six pieces,
and if these are carefully fitted, glued and var-
nished, a fairly good rod is the result.

It is possible the manufacture of these four-
strip rods of solid wood or cane, and the diff-
culty in keeping water out of them with the in-

188 AMATEUR RODMAKING

ferior glue and varnish then available, resulted
in the method often followed of winding joints
solidly with silk thread or narrow silk tape.
This made the rod soft or logy and was dis-
carded finally, to be revived in recent years,
and again discarded.

The four-section cane rods gave way to six-
strip rods, and these are here to stay. They
have been used successfully for the past genera-
tion and have outlived their offshoots, the eight-
strip, the seven-strip, and the steel-centered
single and double-built rods, showing that they
are based on very sound principles.

It is the belief among rodmakers that in a
hexagonal rod the upper and the lower strips
are called upon to perform the greater part of
the work of casting and playing a fish, but the
strain on the upper strip is supported, not by
the lower strip alone, but by the three lower
strips, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the greatest strain falls on the lower
strip, the three upper strips support it, as pic-
tured in Fig. 4. This seems to be borne out
by the fact that in tournament casting—the
hardest work a fly-rod is called upon to per-
form—it frequently occurs that the lower strip
is fractured, but the strength of the rod is but
little impaired, and turning the rod so that the

FISHING ROD HISTORY 19

. eo teenn
Sete eI Ee ee wee tas tan eetts

break comes on the side leaves it in good shape

for further use, if the point where the strip is

fractured be wound with silk and varnished.
Our English friends, not satisfied with plain

20 AMATEUR RODMAKING

hexagonal split cane rods, have resorted to
double built rods, to steel cores, and to wind-
ing in double spiral form with ribbons of steel,
but while these methods are moderately suc-
cessful with them, the result is to overload the
rod, making it top-heavy or logy. Sectional
views of these are shown in Figs. § to 9,
inclusive.

Fig. 5.

Frederic M. Halford,* in his book, “‘ Dry-
Fly Fishing”? (London, 1902), says of Amer-
ican fly-rods that, judging from those he has
seen, they “‘are too whippy for our insular
ideas and seem generally to lack backbone.
They are also rather light in the point, the
effect of which is to render it difficult if not
impossible to recover a long line with them.
The fashion of the present day is to use a rod
that is slightly top-heavy, and although this is
more trying on the wrist, yet, considering all
points, is a fault the right way.”

*Since the above was written Mr. Halford has passed
away. His loss is keenly felt by anglers everywhere.

FISHING ROD HISTORY 21

Octagonal Cane Rod Nonagonal Cane Rod.
_ Both Steel Center and Double Built.
Fig. 6.

His preference then was for a rod 9% to II
feet long, so it must be assumed that he re-
ferred to American rods of light weight. This
seems to be true, for he quotes Francis Francis,
who, in his “ Book on Angling,” told of making
a cast of twenty-six yards with a 10%4-foot
rod. No American five-ounce rod of the pres-
ent time would be accepted as a gift if it failed
to lay out seventy-eight feet, and the average
six-ounce rod, in the hands of an angler of or-
dinary skill, will send the fly yards further, if
the need arises.

Mr. Halford says there are only three ma-
terials worth considering: split cane, green-
heart, and whole cane, in the order given.
Aside from its fault of occasionally snapping
off short, he likes greenheart, but gives double
enamel split cane the preference.

22 AMATEUR RODMAKING

ih
"4 VAA AAA ett ee he

Fig. 7.—Steel-Ribbed Split-Bamboo Rod.

I quote Mr. Halford at some length, for of
all modern English angling literature his books
on “‘ Dry-fly Fishing,” ‘‘ Dry-fly Entomology ”
aud others, and his numerous papers on angling
are, to me at least, the most impressive. Among
other things, his clearness of expression and his
habit of giving more than full credit to his
friends for angling hints show his sincerity and
fairness.

But Mr. Halford has no patience with steel-
centered rods; in fact, he says that the contro-
versy in the English press anent the inventor of
the method was a waste of ink and paper, as
steel-centered rods were of no practical use.
‘“ Consider,” says he, “‘ the effect of rigidly fas-
tening the two materials together. ‘The one
with the quicker action must of necessity tend
to hurry the slower material, and the one with
the slower action must equally of necessity tend
to retard the action of the quicker material.
What must be the effect? A tendency to dis-
integrate their union. For me,” he continues,
‘they have not cast better; they have not cast

FISHING ROD HISTORY — 23

Fig. 9—Method of Forming Each of the Three-Piece
Strips.
more easily; they have not cast more accurately,
than the ordinary split cane by the same maker.
They are certainly more tiring to the wrist, and
when killing a fish I do not think that they give
any real accession of power.”

In 1889 Hardy Brothers employed an engi-
neer who tested specimens used in rodmaking.
All were 24 inches long, .32 of an inch in diam-

24 AMATEUR RODMAKING

eter for round rods, and .16 of an inch on
each side of the triangular sections of glued-
up hexagonal rods. The tests were for resili-
ence, deflection, number of vibrations before
coming to rest with various weights, specific
gravity, and breaking strain. The best results
obtained, in the order given, follow: Double
enamel glued cane, steel centered; double enam-
el glued cane; hexagonal glued cane, steel cen-
tered; hexagonal glued cane; greenheart, built
up; hickory, built up; round greenheart; lance-
wood.

In theory at least it would seem that in a rod
wound with narrow steel wires, these would
constantly shift with the spring of the rod, re-
laxing in hot weather and contracting on cold
days, the general effect being to shear windings
and varnish, and to rust. Certain it is that one
of the British firms which adopted steel rib-
bing some years ago, now advocates a braided
silk sheath to cover the steel.

A Frenchman has made rods in which flat
steel strips have been let into the wood, and
my impression is that a British manufacturer
has adopted the invention.

Some years ago a Scotchman invented a
similar method, but he used fine piano wires
instead, one being let into each of the six strips

FISHING ROD HISTORY — 25

and wound with silk. Unfortunately he died
before succeeding in his efforts to interest a
manufacturer in his work.

In America not much attention has been paid
to steel centers or steel whipping for rods. One
firm makes a steel center rod, and another one
at one time wound both wood and split bam-
boo rods with copper or bronze ribbons in much
the same manner employed abroad in winding
with double spirals of steel. I have fished with
one of these metal-whipped rods, and must say
it has merit, for with it a fly can be cast very
prettily, and it is no doubt strong, but to one
accustomed to an ordinary split bamboo it has
an action which, while pleasant, is peculiarly
its own. Without wishing to disparage these
methods of strengthening rods, for my own use
I prefer plain whipping with narrow bands of
fine silk at intervals of three-fourths to one and
one-half inches, and believe these are sufficient
fur any rod of the class generally made in the
United States.

As previously stated, attempts to strengthen
rods by winding them solidly with silk have
been made here during the last half century,
but while it is claimed for these rods that they
seidom break and will withstand severe strain,
I would not advise the amateur to attempt solid

26 AMATEUR RODMAKING

winding. Rods wound solidly with silk on a
machine are bound in all places with equal
pressure, and if this winding gives strength, as
claimed, the strengthening medium is uniform.
In winding by hand you will at first lay the silk
on with the greatest tension you can exert, but
it is tedious work, and after a few minutes your
fingers will begin to cramp and ache and you
will wind less carefully. When you stop to
rest the tension is relaxed, then you resume
with vigor, and so on until the long contract
is finished. The result must be that the silk is
wound so tight in places that it will cut into the
wood when the preserving medium causes it to
shrink; elsewhere there will be loose spots, fol-
lowed by tight places—anything but uniform
winding, giving you a soft rod.

In this way you may defeat your purpose,
yet never know where the real fault lies. Ten
to one the wood will be given the blame, as
being poor, and you may try the same thing
with another rod, to be again disappointed.

It can be said with perfect safety that six-
strip split bamboo is to-day the favorite fishing
rod material in the United States. More rods
of this sort are used in fly-and bait-casting for
fish and in tournaments than all other mate-
rials combined. ‘They are even replacing solid

FISHING ROD HISTORY 27

wood to a certain extent in salt water fishing.
Many great factories have been working stead-
ily to their full capacity for several years, turn-
ing out split bamboo rods for the markets of
the world, and the best of them have been for
a long time and are now far behind with their
orders. It is a good trade, that of a first class
fishing rod maker; one in which steady employ-
ment is certain.

While our British ane are still experi-
menting with rod materials, using cane and
wood and steel in combination, our makers are
plodding along with their work, turning out the
best split bamboo rods the world has ever
known, and satisfying their patrons. In years
they have not added to their rods any features
of startling importance, but they have instead
constantly endeavored to produce perfect rods,
until to-day their best rods are indeed works of
art, yet powerful and durable withal.

Only one change from the regulation six- and
eight-strip rods is prominent. This is a method
patented several years ago by the late Fred D.
Divine, consisting in twisting the six strips
slightly while the glue is still fresh, so that the
joints are spiral, the theory being that a rod so
treated is stiffened and that the work does not
fall on the upper and lower strips alone, but

28 AMATEUR RODMAKING

on each one of the six. The method is highly
spoken of by anglers, and I myself have used
such a rod with pleasure and satisfaction. At
one time I tested two fly-rods that were exactly
alike in length, caliber, and weight, one spiral,
the other plain six-strip. “They were held on a
table side by side while a half-ounce weight was
suspended from each tip. The spiral rod ©
sagged very little, whereas the other drooped
four inches lower.

The steel rod, that has become so popular in
the Middle West and South for hard use, is
now often employed in bait-casting.

On salt water bethabara, ash and lancewood,
dagama, lancewood and greenheart are the fa-
vorite materials, although, as stated above, split
bamboo is coming into more general use.

In fly-casting there has been very little change
in types of rods during recent years, but in
bait-casting a complete change has taken place,
and to-day the bait-caster’s methods are more
nearly like those of the fly-caster’s than ever
before, in that both use artificial lures in prefer-
ence to live bait wherever success is at all pos-
sible. Both are working toward finer tackle
and are following more sportsmanlike methods
in fishing as a pastime.

Until quite recently angling for game fish in

FISHING ROD HISTORY — 29

fresh waters consisted in casting the fly; in cast-
ing with medium weight rods and minnows or
other live bait, sometimes attached to a spoon
or spinner; in still-fishing with minnows, worms,
grubs, or other insects; in trolling with live or
artificial lures. ‘There were other forms, but
these will suffice for the present. Nearly all
rods were long and heavy. In order to make
one of these, skill of no mean order was re-
quired, and amateurs who made attempts were
more often disappointed than satisfied.

Then came the change in the methods of
using the bait-casting rod. Extremists went
from rods of eight and nine feet to those of
six, five, four, even less than four feet in length,
but as time passed and experience has been
gained, many of them have settled on five and
one-half or six feet as a very satisfactory length
for the superb little rods with which they cast
a long line and some form of artificial lure,
using a free-running multiplying reel.

It is possible to make these rods as light and
almost as graceful as the trout fly-rods. Angle
woims and live minnows and doodlebugs are
no longer considered necessary by way of lure,
and the methods of the bait-caster may be made
_as cleanly and as skillful as those of his brother ©
of the fly-rod.

CHAPTER II
FISHING ROD MATERIALS

HERE are many anglers who are fond
TT of doing things themselves, and to such
of them as fancy bait-casting, the idea of
making their own rods appeals strongly. And
while it is beyond most of them to make a
passable rod nine feet in length, such as was
used years ago, there are very few persons pos-
sessed of ordinary skill who cannot make a
short rod of the type that is popular to-day.

To give assistance to those who would like
to try this fascinating pastime is the purpose
of this book. I disclaim any scientific knowl-
edge inthe art. Rather, I have simply plodded
along at the work, making mistakes and cor-
recting them, doing things topside down, per-
haps, as a professional rodmaker might say,
but attaining the end sought, after a fashion,
in time.

During the past decade I have made almost
every type of rod, and have worked split bam-
boo dagama, lancewood, hickory, ash, green-

30

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 31

heart, washaba (bethabara), jucara prieto, and
other materials, but in no part of my rodmak-
ing have I had any better facilities for working
rapidly and easily than the average busy man
commands, hence IJ feel confident in telling the
novice how he can do this and that part of
the work, for I am giving the results of my
own experience, backed by the sage advice of
some of the best known professional and ama-
teur rodmakers and anglers, to many of whom
I am greatly indebted for friendly criticism in
my efforts to assist beginners.

One thing which this slow and methodical
hand work has taught me is this: ‘To take ad-
vantage of everything which will simplify the
work of rodmaking and finishing. I would
have you bear this in mind in reading the chap-
ters that are to come. Some of my methods
may seem clumsy to those of you who have
access to machine tools, or who may have been
advised by professional rodmakers; but the
average beginner at rodmaking will work with
even poorer facilities, perhaps, than I have
commanded, and for him the methods described
may be of some value. Above all things I wish
to make all steps plain and simple. ‘They are
not scientific, but are practical.

It is folly for the beginner to attempt to

3832 AMATEUR RODMAKING

make his first rod of split bamboo, or even to
obtain glued-up stock and fit it. Instead, he
should obtain that material which is easiest to
manipulate, and carry the work through to
some sort of conclusion. Then, and only then,
will he master the first step in rodmaking and
begin to realize how easy and yet how difficult
it is to make a good rod.

Without question split bamboo is the best
material known to-day. If you can obtain the
material in butts, joints, and tips, glued-up, so
that the “ making” consists merely in finishing
it and fitting hand-grasp, ferrules, and trim-
' mings, if care is exercised a very good rod will
be the result. But I would strongly advise the
novice not to attempt to make a split bamboo
rod complete; at least not until he has had
ample practice in making all-wood rods. In-
stead, pay a visit to some professional rod-
maker, if this be possible, at a time when he is
making split bamboo rods, and ask permission
to watch him at work for a little while. If you
do, my word for it, you will go away a wiser
if not a sadder man, for you will be convinced
that you lack the skill necessary to finish the six
slender strips and fit them together perfectly,
even if you can secure bamboo that will prove
to be worth cutting up.

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 33

This is one of the difficulties encountered in
rodmaking, for not all of the material that
looks good will be worth the labor of cutting.
I know one old rodmaker who, on splitting out
his material, tests each slender strip by bend-
ing until the ends meet, then examining the
circlet for weak spots, and if any appear he
smashes the whole piece and tries again—a
severe test, but one that will show defects be-
fore further labor is wasted. Not that this is
the correct test, but it is one of several, the
most important one being an examination based
on long experience.

Some of the best rodmakers will supply you
with glued-up butts and joints, and if you are
_ determined to make your first rod of this ma-
terial, select these somewhat longer than the
joints of your rod-to-be, so that you can pick
out the best part of each piece when you come
to fitting the ferrules. Take only hand-made
stock, for machine made material is not always
worth using; much depends on how carefully
the stock is selected. The hand-made stock will
cost more than you anticipate, but it is much
cheaper in the end. If glued-up split bamboo
1s to be the material, the method of perform-
ing the different parts of the fitting will be the
same as described further on for all-wood rods.

34. AMATEUR RODMAKING

Next to split bamboo in the woods easily ob-
tainable in the open market comes washaba, or,
as it is known in the trade, bethabara. ‘This
is a heavy wood, but it is nicely adapted to
short bait-casting rods, and one can be made to
weigh five to six and one-half ounces, and very
slender, that will be exceedingly powerful and
full of ginger. Bethabara slightly resembles
butternut or a light grade of black walnut in
color; with this exception, that when freshly
sawed the surface is covered with greenish
yellow dust, very heavy. and a bit sticky to the
touch, giving one the impression that the wood
has been sprinkled with yellow ochre. The
wood being so hard, the rough saw marks hide
the grain, and it is difficult to tell a good piece
from a bad one. Look closely at all sides, or
better, scrape two sides until the grain will
show, and if there are any knots or if the
corners show splinters that may be broken off
short, discard it and look further. Pound the
sticks smartly on the floor and examine for
worm holes, which, although very small, are
fatal to good material.

I have said that the wood shows dust of a
greenish-yellow color, but this seems partially
absent in some bethabara. I prefer the grade
which shows this characteristic, and which the

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 35

English rodmakers call green washaba; but the
brown washaba, the grade that does not, is
much harder and has a closer and longer grain
in the perfect pieces, although it seems more
dificult to get perfect pieces in this grade.
Hence it is well to stick to the green or dusty
grades, which run nice as a rule and can be
‘planed from both ends and on all sides with
impunity. Some dealers sell other varieties of
imported woods for bethabara, and some try
to supply very poor greenheart instead; but reli-
able men may be depended on to give you what
you ask for.
The fine shavings from bethabara are so
wiry and tough that a handful of them can be
used for a long time in polishing finished joints.
They cling together totally unlike those from
-greenheart, which are short and very brittle.
Bethabara logs are sawed into planks which
go to the rodmakers in thicknesses of seven-
eighths of an inch, sometimes more. Generally
the lumbermen cut logs into pieces seven-
eighths by one inch and three feet long, but you
can get other lengths. ‘These pieces must be
ripped. If, however, they will cut the material
to your order, it will be well to have the butt
five-eighths of an inch and the tips three-eighths
for a two-piece rod. ‘There is a good deal of

386 AMATEUR RODMAKING

cutting before you can be satisfied with the
squared stock; and another thing, you must de-
cide which end of your stock is to be the butt,
or large end, before you begin the work of .
tapering.

There are two or three peculiarities about
this wood that will astonish you at first. Stock
that is cut thin may be very,crooked. I have’
worked pieces so crooked that it seemed a waste
of time to do anything with them, but after
they were finished and the rod hung up by the
top on a brad driven into the wall, all the kinks
soon disappeared and the rod became as
straight as a perfect arrow. |

This method of straightening is advisable
with any rod, and especially tips. Where rods
are put away in tackle cabinets or closets, with
all parts tied up in a cloth partition case, it
very often happens that one of the strings of
the case is tied more securely than the others,
thus bending the tips slightly; and, if left in this
shape for long, with perhaps some heavy object
resting against all, a very crooked rod may be
taken out later on. Even standing joints on
the floor with the tops resting against the wall
may warp them. Better hang tips up, and the
whole rod, too, if practicable. Dealers who
handle the finest wood rods often suspend them

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 387

all from the tops in cases made for this pur-
pose.

Bethabara as a rule does not warp or take
set easily, but cut any wood into thin strips and
throw it about and it will warp out of shape.
Varnish puts an end to this, as it prevents
rapid changes of temperature from affecting
- the wood easily.

In preparing to work bethabara, put on a
pair of overalls or a long apron. The dust is
very penetrating and somewhat sticky, and
there is an oily substance that adheres to the
edge of the plane, dulling it until removed.
Wash your hands with soap and water, and you
will be surprised to see the water turn a deep
salmon color, and the lather from the soap just
like so much red paint. No stain need be
feared, however, although old rodmakers tell
me that after continued working of this wood,
their hair takes on a slight pinkish shade, due,
evidently, to the action on the bethabara dust
on the alkali in the soap.

Dagama in perfect pieces is even more easily
obtainable than bethabara, and of all the rod
materials known I strongly advise the beginner
to make his first rod of dagama. He will have
less difficulty in working it, is more likely to get
first-class stock of nice straight grain, and it

388 AMATEUR RODMAKING

will give him good satisfaction. Having in
mind the disappointing experiences I had in my
first attempts to work bethabara, due for the
most part to poor material, I asked several of
the best known firms of rodmakers for their
ovinions, and these agreed perfectly with my
own, which is that while first-class bethabara
will give better satisfaction, dagama of good
quality is more easily obtained, can be worked
to better advantage by the novice, and will
make a good rod.

Dagama comes from Cuba and is rather
common. The tree grows to a height of forty
or fifty feet and has few branches. As a rule
it comes in billets six or seven feet long, split
from the log, but as these are not expensive,
the novice who expects to make two or three
rods can use the best part of a billet to advan-
tage. The wood is rather white when first
split, but exposure to the air turns it pale yel-
low and it darkens slightly when made up into
rods. It resembles lancewood so closely that
unless pieces of both are placed side by side it
is difficult to tell which is which. Its grain is
closer and straighter than that of lancewood,
however, and it has none of the pins or knots
that characterize lancewood and make that
wood so unsatisfactory to work. Dagama is

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 39

light, stiff, and elastic, breaks with a long, splin-
tering fracture, somewhat like hickory, is easy
to work with or across the grain, and may be
highly polished. Ferrules slightly larger than
those used on bethabara will answer.

It has been said that dagama is at its best in
a moist climate, and is therefore peculiarly
adapted to use on salt water; that it becomes
somewhat “brash” in dry climates, like hick-
ory. I regret that my personal experience with
the wood is confined to regions near the sea |
level, and that I cannot affirm or deny this
statement. Hickory, I know, although exceed-
ingly tough and resilient as a rule, failed com-
pletely when used for the long whip stocks of
the old-time stage coach and army ambulance
drivers in the dry regions of the Southwest.
Although soaked with oil, they were totally un-
reliable after drying out, and would snap short
off like reeds. Bait-casting rods are not used
in such dry regions as a rule, but along the
Pacific coast, it seems, bethabara gives better
satisfaction than either greenheart or dagama.
The best fishing is in the dry season there.

The late Henry P. Wells was one of the first
angling writers to mention dagama, and he
praised it very highly, both in the first edition —
of his “ Fly-Rods and Fly Tackle,”’ which was

400 AMATEUR RODMAKING

published in 1885, and in the second edition,
which appeared in 1901. Of dagama he said:
“Compared with a stick of approved green-
heart of equal size the dagama showed no in-
feriority that I could detect, while it was cer-
tainly much lighter. . . . J have made and
used several rods made of dagama, and have
seen many made by others. If well selected
and well seasoned, as a rod wood it is difficult
to equal, much less excel, as far as my experi-
ence goes. It is very strong, very elastic, con-
siderably lighter than any wood I know of
which has equal strength, and works with a
keen tool in a way that is simply a delight.”
The late John Harrington Keene favored
four varieties of wood for rods, after split
bamboo. ‘These were snakewood, lancewood,
greenheart, and bethabara. Snakewood, in his
opinion, was the best where weight was not
important, as for bait-casting rods. “It is,”
said he, ‘‘one of the most satisfactory woods
to work that I know, cutting smoothly and
without apparent grain, and coming out from
the plane with a surface like ivory for smooth-
ness. Greenheart is a much harsher wood to
work, but if the tool is keen it works fairly well.
For fly-rods it is one of the best woods I know,
being of medium weight and great stiffness.”

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 41

Of dagama Mr. Keene said: ‘‘ While it is
tough, it lacks the rigidity of lancewood and is
inferior to it for rodmaking. Lancewood,
which, if well selected, is a most desirable wood
for rods, is one of the easiest woods to work,
has little visible grain and cuts smoothly.”

It seems, however, that Mr. Keene’s opin-
ion of split bamboo changed after he came to
the United States to live, for when he wrote
“ Fishing Tackle, Its Materials and Manufac-
ture’’ (London, 1886), he said: ‘* The jungle
canes are of Asian growth, and are chiefly util-
ized for the glued-up cane rods which are so
popular—rather undeservedly, I think.”

At that time Mr. Keene pronounced green-
heart “the very best all round material for all
the joints except the butt of fishing rods of
whatsoever description.”’

Curiously enough, he says “the beautifully
mottled appearance of a well finished cane rod
is produced by staining the wood with aqua
fortis and nut galls. The stain is burned in
immediately it is put on.’ Evidently, if this
was true, the rodmakers of that time used other
canes and attempted in this way to imitate the
Calcutta canes.

Lancewood is used more than any other
material for all-wood rods in America, al-

42 AMATEUR RODMAKING

though it does not seem to be very much used
abroad at present. In England greenheart is
more of a favorite, but over there more atten-
tion is given to combinations than here. For
example, hickory is frequently used for butt
joints in high grade rods, whereas on this side
of the water it is put into the cheapest ones, imi-
tations of bethabara, stained, and for spring
butts of surf rods. Over there, too, whole cane
butts and even middle joints, with greenheart
tips, are common, while as a rule we stick to
one material throughout the rod.

Lancewood is more easily obtainable than
bethabara. The latter comes from Africa by
way of Liverpool, whereas lancewood in large
quantities is brought up to New York by the
coastwise vessels trading in Southern waters.
It costs less than bethabara, and is much easier
to work. It is not so heavy as bethabara. In
the rough it is easier to select good stock than
is the case with bethabara. But it is “‘ softer”
and more resilient in equal diameters, and has
not the steely snap and quick recovery that
characterize the other variety mentioned. In
addition to this it is prone to take set; in other
words, to warp permanently, and this fault is
more marked on damp than on dry days.

There are so many varieties of wood avail-

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 43

able, and all more or less excellent for rods,
that the beginner may be tempted to try others
than those recommended. But my advice is
that he confine his first experiments to either
dagama or bethabara. ‘Then, after he has
acquired some knowledge of squaring, round-
ing, and finishing solid wood, and fitting hand
grasps, ferrules and tops, he may feel safe in
making a split bamboo rod, since this will be
the goal of his ambition.

Good Calcutta bamboo is very difficult to
obtain. Japanese bamboo is inferior to it, and
I would not advise its use. Nearly all of the
Calcutta bamboos are marked with alternate
bands or patches of natural and scorched
enamel. Two varieties are commonly known.
The so-called ‘‘male’? bamboo has thicker
walls than the “female” and is generally
chosen for this reason. Careful experts tell
us, however, that in this thick-walled bamboo
the strength diminishes more rapidly from
enamel surface to hollow center than in the
thin-walled bamboo. The enamel or rind is
tough and hard. Under this the cells increase
rapidly in size and their walls diminish in
strength, the inner part being more pith-like
than in the thin-walled bamboos, whose cells
are smaller and their walls stronger.

44 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Various reasons are given to account for the
burning of the bamboos by the natives of India.
The late Henry P. Wells, who studied the ques-
tion carefully, gives six reasons, as follows: A
religious ceremony; roasted over a gridiron to
kill borers; also to burn off adhering leaves and
vines; for ornamental purposes; accidentally
burned in firing jungles to destroy creeping
vines; seared with hot irons in straightening.
He leaves it to his readers’ fancy to decide.

J. J. Hardy, himself a rodmaker, in his
“Salmon Fishing,” says the natives lay the
more crooked canes in fires made of grass and
leaves, to soften before attempting to straighten
them. ‘‘ While this firing doubtless solidifies
the sap and hardens the cells greatly,” he
writes, “it destroys fully 50 per cent. of the
bamboos for rodmaking by burning through
parts of the outer skin, the effects of which
may be seen in the very dark blotches. Where
this appears the material is worthless, all the
original structure having been destroyed. It
has been very difficult to persuade the natives
to adopt special methods of heating for the
purpose of straightening, in order to avoid this
overburning; but it is satisfactory to know that
better methods, under strict supervision, are
now being employed.” Mr. Hardy says it is

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 45

not unusual to split up thirty to fifty culms and
test the strips before sufficient good material
for an 18-foot salmon fly-rod is obtained.

The bamboos obtainable are generally 114
to 1% inches in diameter at the large end and
only four or five feet of each one can be used
to advantage.

Tonkin canes come from the province of that
name in French Indo-China, on the Gulf of
Tonkin, an arm of the China Sea. Probably
most of them are cut in the valleys of the Black
and Red rivers, which lie due east of Mandalay
in Burma, and as Calcutta and Tonkin canes
grow in the same latitude, this may account for
the belief held by some that Tonkin canes equal
Calcutta bamboo for rodmaking purposes. It
is, however, a fact that very few professional
rodmakers will admit that anything can equal
first class Calcutta canes. A veteran says one
_ reason why he is inclined to use Tonkin is found
in the fact that good Calcutta canes are very
dificult to obtain, and with them there is so
much waste.

Many of the Tonkin canes furnish thicker
material than the other variety, and if properly
seasoned and selected, make excellent fly- and
bait-casting rods. Few of them are burned,
which furnishes another reason for their popu-

46 AMATEUR RODMAKING

larity. Some are stained unevenly before they
are split, and when the strips are matched and
glued these mottled places appear here and
there on the rod, giving the effect that is so
pleasing to anglers of the old school who,
through custom, prefer the mottling to the
white enamel of unburned canes. ‘The staining
is a harmless process, and may be produced in
several ways.

Tonkin differs materially from Calcutta.
The nodes or knots are smaller and less trouble-
some, and in the rough beveling you can plane
through the knots with safety. ‘This cane is
much coarser than Calcutta, harder, and in
breaking a strip the surface gives way in long
splinters, leaving softer pith strata which are
tough but not springy. Because of its greater
stiffness it is used for tournament rods. It re-
sembles somewhat our Southern canes, but its
surface is darker and the fibers reddish. It is
harsh and glassy, soon dulls the edge of the
plane, and must be handled carefully or the
hands will be cut and scratched.

It does not follow that, because some rods
are made with double enamel, it is the better
method. If first class bamboo is used, and the
strips are well made and perfectly fitted, noth-
ing can surpass the plain hexagonal rod; but

FISHING RODMATERIALS 47

the difficulty of obtaining good bamboo is great
and is increasing, and it is not always possible
to get material thick enough to make perfect
triangular sections without resorting to the
double enamel process in butts and joints.
Many rods are now made the centers of which
are hollow because of this difficulty of getting
material thick enough to make all strips per-
fectly triangular in section.

In an attempt to choose between double
enameled hexagonal bamboo and _ octagonal
bamboo, the former may safely be given pref-
erence. In an octagonal rod the butt and mid-
dle joint are stronger, provided the caliber is
large, but eight-strip tips consist of so much
glue and so little cane that they will not with-
stand so much hard usage as will the six-strip

Fig. Io.
Dotted lines show section for double enamel hexagonal
rods.

cane, and frequently give way at the ferrules,
particularly if the parts are carelessly twisted.

48 AMATEUR RODMAKING

On the other hand, the gluing of double
enamel hexagonal strips is partially protected
from moisture, and if properly made a double
enamel rod is strong and powerful. Besides,
this method is a simple one, and double enamel
strips are easily made in several ways, the
common form being to plane two strips of rec-
tangular section, glue them together and then
file as in a single strip; the other to make a
strip of triangular section, then plane off the
apex of the triangle, glue another strip to the
base, and file this down.

In Fig. 10 the dotted lines show the form
of the completed section, and the shaded lines

Hig) FT.
As finished sections of double enamel strips appear.

the enamel. In Fig. 11, a is the outer strip
with apex of triangle planed off; b, second strip

FISHING ROD MATERIALS 49

glued to a; dotted lines c indicate section of
finished strip.

The specific gravities and weight of various
woods mentioned are given by Mr. Wells as
follows, the standard being distilled well water:

Snakewood :......... at hare Ri CET ee tp 1.3718 85.74
“au 2 fe 2 Re rae near 1.2140 75.88
Peecemmedrt (dark) ..., ...... ++)» +.-<1-0908 68.18
MG APIICL Oss oo ce cosa cee eee aes 1.08 67.30
LL oes /7 dS es ee ee 1.0335 65.49
Sia steip split bamboo.............. .QQIS 61.96
Four strip split bamboo, enamel inside .9678 60.49
Preenmeate (lieht) ...@.... se. eee es .9043 60.26
Pcs ag tea Sicecccceec ees .90 56.10

MRE adc bad ae selewe ean 17963) 40577

CHAPTER III
MOUNTING AND FINISHING MATERIALS

HAT shall the handgrasp be—solid
cork or a form wound with cord?
Simplicity, effectiveness, and economy
point to cork. ‘This statement may surprise
you, but it is true. Cork, seemingly difficult to
work, only requires proper treatment, and with
it the weight of the rod can be kept down.
The cork companies in New York, Pitts-.
burgh, and Chicago will furnish handgrasps to
order ready to slip over a solid center. These
are made either of solid cork discs or of suberit,
a composition of ground cork and cement. They
will also furnish corks similar to those used in
vaseline bottles and one-half inch thick, at
about seven cents per dozen for the best qual-
ity. I generally purchase four dozen at a time,
costing twenty-five cents, and select the best
ones for use. The 1% and 13-inch sizes are
best for rod grasps. Some tackle dealers now
keep rodmaking supplies in stock, and will sup-
ply partly finished handgrasps.
50

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 51

Wood forms for handgrasps can be pur-
chased from rodmakers in various lengths
and sizes, with either single or double grasp,
and with a hole of any size desired bored clear
through. They cost twenty to forty cents. If
you can have access to a lathe, however, it
will be a pleasure to turn your own handgrasps
from staghorn sumach, which you can obtain
in almost any thicket during a walk in the
country; or white pine. Bore the hole first,
fit a plug in this, center the ends, and shape
the outside to suit, bearing in mind that the
cord to be wound on will increase the diam-
eter about 1-16 inch.

Cord for this purpose is obtainable from
fishing tackle dealers. Light green braided
cotton cord looks nice when varnished, and
makes a good firm grasp, but it is inferior to
cork.

All ferrules, reelseats, tapers, and buttcaps
_should be German silver. These cost a trifle
more than brass nickeled, but they are harder,
stronger, and more durable. Besides, nickel
glitters while German silver tarnishes just
enough to become slightly dull, but is not in-
juriously affected by the presence of chemicals
in the water.

There are only three types of ferrules that

52 AMATEUR RODMAKING

merit the consideration of the beginner. These
are:

1. For split bamboo rods, welted and
capped (or shouldered) ferrules, with the
caps serrated so that the silk may be wound
over the springy saw-tooth like ends illus-
trated in Fig. 12. The reference letter a

a- é ! 4.
ae ee

Fig 12.—Serrated Ferrules.

shows the welted end of the ferrule, which
protects and strengthens it; b is the cap or
shoulder, which is turned down slightly at c
to permit winding with silk, which should ex-
tend 1-16 inch beyond the flexible serrated
ends d and bind the ferrule rigidly on the
wood; ¢ is the center, or slide. The caliber of
a set of ferrules is taken at the the point indi-
cated by this letter. The outside diameter of
the center at e is exactly the same as the in-
side diameter of the ferrule.

2. Capped and welted ferrules with the
caps split and also turned down slightly for

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 53

winding, as illustrated in Fig. 13. The refer-

:

Def) Pa suit
os : +
ae hy i bg

. Fig. 13.—Split Ferrules.

ence letter f shows the capped ends turned
down so that the cap and the silk winding will
be the same diameter. This end is split in
several places with a very fine saw, so that the
silk will bind the ferrule in the same manner
as with serrated ferrules.

These split ferrules are excellent for split
bamboo rods, or in fact for any rods, and they
frewOttea preferred to serrated ferrules. If
anything they are neater. ‘They can be pur-
chased of the trade, but any amateur who can
work metal handily can make them from plain
capped ferrules.

3. Capped and welted ferrules are of the
same form as the two mentioned above, but
the caps are plain, as shown in Fig 14.

In all carefully made German silver fer-
rules the outside diameter of the female fer-
tule at g (Fig. 14) is identical with the inside
diameter of the cap at hk. This is ‘a help to the

54 AMATEUR RODMAKING

novice in tapering his joints. This also applies
to the center. In purchasing ferrules always
specify ‘‘capped and welted ferrules, closed-
end centers.” Some of the centers are left

Fig. 14——Plain Capped and Welted Ferrules.

open at the bottom, which is necessary when
dowels are to be put in.

I have given preference to capped ferrules
for the reason that they are better for the
novice to work with than straight ferrules. By
straight ferrules I mean those in which the
female is a true cylinder inside and out. Many
serrated and split ferrules are made straight,
but if they are not to be fastened with pins,
they may be set too far down on the wood
and work loose more easily if the cementing is
imperfectly done. It is possible to obtain
straight ferrules which are shorter than those
that are capped. For three-joint rods less
than six feet in length, by using short straight
ferrules, you can slightly lessen the total

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 55

length of metal in the rod, and if it is to be
quite willowy, they are excellent for the pur-
pose. Specify either ‘“‘welted straight fer-
rules’? or ‘‘ welted short straight ferrules” in
ordering, but in either case add “ capped
closed-end centers.” The use of straight cen-
ters will spoil the taper at the joint.

Dowels should be avoided by beginners.
The plain ferrules have, through long use,
been proved fully equal—and in the opinion
of most anglers, actually superior—to dow-
eled ferrules, even for heavy salt water and
salmon rods. In this opinion I do not concur
-with respect to very heavy rods, in which there
is abundant space for the dowel without weak-
ening the wood at all. For small caliber rods,
however, the dowel has no advantage over the
plain ferrule. Few amateurs can hope to
properly fit doweled ferrules to a rod, the ef-
fect being rather to weaken than to strengthen
it. The intricate parts of the old-fashioned
doweled ferrules may be seen in Fig. 15.

Every ferrule should be fitted with a metal
plug, to keep out the dust while it is in its
case.

Waterproof ferrules are well worth their
slight extra cost. In these a metal disc is
brazed or soldered in the ferrule, to prevent

56 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Fig. 15.—Sectional View of Doweled Ferrule.

water from getting into the wood or bamboo.

In purchasing a reelseat it is necessary to
decide whether the rod is to consist of one
piece; of a tip and a separate handgrasp; or
of two or three joints of equal length; and in
any case whether the grasp is to be single or
double.

If the rod is to be one piece, or if the hand-
grasp is to be fitted direct to the butt of a
two- or a three-piece rod, and is to be single,
the reelseat should be like that pictured in
Fig. 16.

If the handgrasp is to be single and sepa-
rate, then the ferrules shown in Fig. 17 will
be needed. Of these, the center goes on the
large end of tip and the ferrule fits into the
tapered end of the reelseat (Fig. 16). The
method of fitting will be described further on.

If the handgrasp is to be double, then the
reelseat is ordered without the tapered end,
and a separate taper is required. (See Fig.

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 57

18.) . The ferrules shown in Fig. 17 can also
be used in connection with this reelseat (Fig.
18), as will be explained in the proper place.

For all single-hand fly- and bait-casting rods
reelseats of three-quarter inch diameter are
standard, and seven-eighths or one inch for
medium weight salt water and salmon rods.
In ordering reelseats, the diameter of the small
end of the taper must be specified. Generally
these are 15-32, % inch, ae and 19-32 of
an inch.

Reelseats for fly-rods are like Fig. 18, with
the exception that the bottoms are closed. For
this purpose the taper is generally narrower.

ICCC COCA

eat

Fig. 17.—Ferrules for a Separate Handgrasp.

58 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Fig. 18.—Reelseat and Taper for a Double Handgrasp.

Stock buttcaps are generally of 34 inch di-
ameter at the large end. For bait-casting rods,
which should have rather full grasps, one inch

Sf Fig. 20.—One-ring Ger-

Fig. 19.—Agate Guide. man Silver Guide.

is a better diameter. I like the small hard rub-
ber buttons made for tarpon rods, and hollow
these out so that they fit as a buttcap. They
can, however, be fitted flush against the cork of
the handgrasp without hollowing, and fastened
on end of grasp with a screw.

For light bait-casting rods it is nice to use

Fig. 21—Agate Offset Top.

a full set of agate guides and an agate top,
but if this increases the cost too much use an

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 59

agate top and an agate guide nearest the reel,
with one-ring German silver guides for the bal-
ance of the set. There was a time when it was
believed that large guides and tops were best,
but it is now conceded that guides and tops of
a caliber of 5-16 inch are large enough, safer,
and neater. ‘There can be no question that
large, heavy guides affect the action of the
rod. The agate guide shown in Fig. 19 and
the one-ring. German silver guide pictured in
Fig. 20 have proved as good as any so far

Fig. 22,—Hard Steel Snake Guide for Fly-rod.

used. They are light, strong, and efficient.
The caliber of both is 5-16 inch.

By all means employ an agate offset top
made like that shown in Fig. 21. In this there
is a wire extending from the tube to the bot-
tom of the metal ring holding the agate, while
the two side wires prevent the line from
catching around the top, and strengthen it.
The tube may be tapered or cylindrical.

For fly-rods the best guides are of hard steel,
snake form, as shown in Fig. 22. ‘These can
be had in various sizes in the trade. In Fig.
23 a steel top for fly-rods is shown. In this

60 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the ring is of the same form as the agates used
for the same purpose, but the steel ring is
made loose enough to turn in the wire that
holds it, in order that it will not wear from
the constant friction of the line. The wires
are lashed to the rod tip with silk. The form
shown in Fig. 24 differs only in that these wires
terminate in a tube. Wires and tube are Ger-
man silver.

For guides and tops of fly-rods German sil-
ver is too soft and is soon cut in grooves by
the friction of the line. Any mechanic can
make these loose steel tops, or they can be pur-
chased from the importers. Agate or steel
tops, and steel guides, are necessary for tour-
nament fly-rods. The hand guide should be
agate, steel, or phosphor bronze, as during the
constant stripping in and shooting of the line
it is held at an angle to the rod, causing con-
siderable friction and wear on the first or hand
guide.

Novices who have access to machine tools
can make guides and tops for both fly- and
bait-casting rods of hard steel and of the form
shown in Figs. 19-24, inclusive. Steel is in
every way adapted to guides and tops, and if
neatly made they are light, strong, and dur-
able. Many novices make all of their rod fit-

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 61

tings, and some of these are the best I have
ever seen. Being unable to purchase steel tops
for my single-hand and salmon fly-rods, I per-
suaded a fellow angler to make several steel
tops for me, and these have proved very satis-
factory in tournament casting, He has also

Fig. 230Stedl Fly-rod | SLAC
Top, with Loose Ring and Fig. 24.—Steel Fly-rod
Wires. Top, with Tube.

made steel guides and tops for all his fly- and
bait-casting rods, and his work shows what a
novice can do if he has access to machine tools.
I prefer phosphor bronze for the fly-rod tops.
Agates are too easily broken.

Perhaps the best glue for use in the making
of split bamboo rods, and for gluing corks and
forms for handgrasps, is French glue, obtain-
able in paint shops. Place the glue pot in a
kettle of water over a slow fire. The glue pot
should have wire legs or be elevated slightly,
else it will rest on the bottom of the kettle
and, the water being excluded from under the
glue pot, the glue will burn.

Russian isinglass is also very good, but it
should not be used a second time. Instead,
clean the pot and prepare fresh glue each time

62 AMATEUR RODMAKING

it is to be used. Russian isinglass is colorless
and for this reason is used in glass signs and
metal work where other substances would
show. Purchase an ounce of it and try it be-
fore deciding to adopt it. It costs about forty
cents an ounce, but this quantity will be suffi-
cient for several rods.

Much depends on how glue 1s prepared and
used. I prefer Coignet No. 1, the best French
glue, soaking it overnight in cold water, then
using it very hot but thin. It sets very quickly
but is not brittle. Like all amateur rodmakers,
I have made mistakes in handgrasps, etc., and
have tried to rectify them by heating, steam-
ing, or soaking them, to separate the parts so
that changes might be made. It is at such times
that one learns with what obstinacy glue will
resist attempts to separate parts joined with it.
I have soaked a cork handgrasp for three
hours in steaming hot water, without making
the slightest impression on the glue, and have
experimented with ordinary glue and prepared
cements, all of which resisted severe treatment
in a manner that surprised me.

There are several prepared cements that are
excellent and cheap. All should be warmed,
say in a cup of hot water. Most of them can
be thinned with vinegar. They are perhaps

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 63

inferior to the commercial glues that are
soaked and prepared fresh each time they are
to be used, but their handiness appeals to the
novice.

Much depends on how the glue dries in split
bamboo. It should not become brittle and
break when the rod springs, nor be too sensi-
tive to moisture.

Ferrules can be seated with shellac, glue, or
various cements. I have found the cement
known as Hercules very satisfactory. It is
obtainable in the trade in twenty-five cent sticks.
A very good article, known as the Fishing
Gazetie ferrule cement, can be made as follows:

Clear rosin, 1 ounce; boiled linseed oil, 1
teaspoonful; gutta percha, 1 drachm. Melt
together, pour into water, and pull.

I have used silk wax with satisfaction made
after a formula given by the late John Har-
rington Keene. It is as follows:

Best yellow rosin, 2 ounces; white beeswax,
sliced, 1 drachm.

Dissolve by slow heat and add 2%4 drachms
fresh unsalted lard. Stir for ten minutes, pour
into water, and pull. It is to be wrapped in a
bit of chamois skin and kept out of the dust.

In this, as in the ferrule cement, it is well to
tub your hands slightly with vaseline before

64 AMATEUR RODMAKING

taking the wax out of the cold water, as other-
wise it will adhere to the fingers at first.

Another formula, which is recommended by
Colonel R. F. Meysey-Thompson, in his “ An-
gling Catechism,” follows:

Powdered white rosin, gum arabic, and lano-
line, one part each; or two parts rosin and
no gum arabic. Simmer together until melted,
add a few drops of essence of lemon, pour into
cold water, pull and roll until of the proper
consistency, when it can be cut into cakes and
wrapped in chamois skin. If too soft, add
rosin; if too hard, add lanoline. Obviously
it must be kept free from dust.

The best colorless substance obtainable for
use in waxing silk thread for winding rods or
making artificial flies is mentioned by the late
Harry G. McClelland in his excellent little
book ‘‘ The Fly-dresser’s Cabinet of Devices.”
It is made by melting together equal parts
(bulk) of amber rosin and turpentine and pour-
ing into collapsible metal tubes such as artists
use. When a thread is to be waxed, a little of
the liquid is squeezed out of the tube on the fin-
ger and thumb, between which the thread is
passed several times. The surplus wax is then
removed from the fingers with a drop of tur-
pentine. Fly-tyers use this liquid in preference

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 65

to the silk wax mentioned above, as the latter
is more likely to get hard and brittle in time
through exposure to the air, and it is difficult to
keep it clean and colorless.

You will need a small bottle of the best grain
alcohol shellac for coating all silk windings to
preserve their original color. ‘This is not to be
used on the rod proper, however.

The best varnish I have ever used on rods
of all kinds is known as extra light coach. It
comes in cans of all sizes fitted with air tight
tin caps. It is better to get the smallest size,
one-half pint, as when repeatedly exposed to
the air it dries slowly unless thinned with tur-
pentine, and this color makers invariably ad-
vise you not to do, as the thinning agency
detracts from its good qualities. Instead it
should be heated in a vessel of hot water. This
varnish is elastic, does not crack, and dries
quickly with a beautiful gloss if used while
quite warm.

Spar varnish is also good, but several coats
of it are required, it lacks luster, and dries
slowly unless exposed to sun and wind.

Purchase a three-quarter inch oval or flat
brush of good quality for the varnish, and a
thin, round artist’s brush for the shellac. Both
should be washed carefully immediately after

66 AMATEUR RODMAKING

being used in hot water and soap, then dried
and laid away out of the dust.

Amateur fishing rod makers experience dif-
ficulty in obtaining silk of suitable sizes for
winding their rods. Those who live in small
towns can only obtain size A or larger, which
is too coarse for fly-rods and for the slender
bait-casting rods used so much in bass fishing
and in tournament casting. No silk finer than
A is carried by dry goods firms, but in this
size every imaginable color and shade may be
had.

To be sure, some of the fishing tackle deal-
ers carry O and OO in red, green, yellow and
black; but if one is particular and asks for a
certain shade, the dealer does not always have
it, and the next shade may prove disappointing
if you happen to have part of your winding
finished and desire a shade that will match
nicely. The wholesale silk houses will not sell
to an individual in small lots as a rule, although
they may sometimes condescend to let him have
a given number of spools. No amateur could
possibly use a quantity of silk, even if he were
to wind every one of his rods solidly with it,
and after several disappointments he is likely
to fall back on A, even if it does finish up in

MOUNTING AND FINISHING 67

lumps and welts that are not in keeping with
the careful work he has put on the other de-
tails of his rod.

There is one advantage in size A, however:
every little store handling dry goods carries all
colors and every shade that will match dress
goods of silk, cotton, or wool. If you have
never noticed this, ask a saleswoman for a
spool of green silk, and she will show you a
score or more, and every one a different shade
of green. No wonder you cannot buy silk by
mail that will suit you, merely by naming a
cclor. How this size can be split and used
for all windings is described further on.

In selecting silk there is always the tempta-
tion to purchase more than you can ever use
or give away, particularly shades that will dis-
appoint you if wound on the rod and varnished.
There are certain combinations that do not
give the barber-pole effect so many anglers ob-
ject to, yet are durable as to color. Black is a
hideous color for a nice rod, but it looks well
as borders for yellow or orange. Some shades
of yellow lose all color under the varnish, and
cream color becomes semi-transparent, and is
often employed for that very reason. Blue,
lilac, and pale red fade rapidly when exposed

68 AMATEUR RODMAKING

to the sun, and purple, often seen on some rods,
is not always lasting. Bright or flame red and
medium apple green are generally satisfactory,
but their brilliancy depends a great deal on
what sort of varnish protects them from the
wearing of the line in casting—particularly on
a fly-rod. |

In addition to the winding silk, purchase a
tiny spool of buttonhole silk of any color, to
be used in pulling the ends of the winding silk
through and forming “ endless’ windings. Its
use is explained in the proper place.

A spool of cotton or linen thread is also
handy for use in tying guides on temporarily
while testing your rods. If it is waxed it will
be much more effective. I use linen for this
purpose, fastening the guides in place with it
while aligning them, then cutting the thread
when the guide is partly fastened with silk.

CHAPTER IV
TOOLS NEEDED IN RODMAKING

N preparing to make a fishing rod, after
the wood and metal parts have been ob-
tained, the next thing to consider is a

workbench. If one is not at hand, and you do
not know any carpenter or mechanic who will
let you use his bench at odd times, a makeshift
will answer. If a bit of plank can be laid
across a table and secured against wobbling,
it will serve.

Of course a large iron vise will be very use-
ful, but if this is not available, one of the little
iron vises to be had in hardware stores for a
dollar or less will answer very well; in fact,
you cannot afford to be without one if you are
fond of making and repairing small articles.

The tools you will require are few and sim-
ple. At least two iron planes will be needed,
one of medium size and the other very small,
say four inches long, for finishing. Get a small
oilstone in a wooden case, and never neglect
to clean it carefully and wrap it in a cloth after

70 AMATEUR RODMAKING

using it, as otherwise its pores will become
clogged with gummed oil and dust, rendering
it worse than useless.

You will need one rather coarse flat file, say
fourteen inches long; and a fine flat or three-

Fig. 25.—Micromeetr Caliper.

cornered file, the latter preferred for split
bamboo work. Also get a sheet of fine emery
cloth; coarse, medium, and fine sandpaper; a
small, thin saw; a flat steel scraper. A drill
stock and several small drills are always use-
ful.

Calipers of some sort are necessary. The
best obtainable is the micrometer caliper reg-
istering thousandths of an inch, with scales
showing equivalents in 8ths, 16ths, 32ds, and
64ths. One of these costs about $4, but its
graduations are so fine that it is useful in other
work as well as in rodmaking, and is almost
indispensable for the angler who wishes to ob-
tain exact calibers of rods, lines, silkworm gut,
etc. These calipers are made by several firms,
and all are of the form illustrated in Fig. 25.

TOOLS NEEDED 71

The size which is graduated in thousandths,
and will take work up to an inch in diameter,
is best for your purpose.

The next best caliper is the one shown in
Fig. 26, or a similar device with sliding arm
and scale graduated to 64ths and opening two
inches. This is the most practical caliper for
the beginner, as it is simple and small. Its
cost is about $1.50. It has a lock nut and the
reverse side gives 100ths of an inch.

A much cheaper gauge is made of brass and
boxwood, similar in form to Fig. 26. One of

Fig. 26—A Simple Form of Caliper.

these will answer very well, although the grad-
uations are coarser than those of the other
calipers mentioned.

There are several devices that are used by
some amateur rod builders which are not abso-
lutely necessary, but they are handy and can
be made to take the place of calipers at times.

You will not make your rod a true taper —
from handgrasp to top, but it will help you to
know how to do this, for the tapering of the

72 AMATEUR RODMAKING

square stock can be made nearly uniform at
first, in the rough.

Take a piece of cardboard and draw two
straight lines 414 inches long, 15-32 of an
inch apart at one end, and 7-64 of an inch at
the other. ‘This represents a uniform taper
from the handgrasp to the top of a 5%4-foot
rod. Mark off spaces every half inch to rep-
resent every six-inch station from handgrasp
to top, and number them 6, 12, etc., up to 54.
The distance between the horizontal lines at
every mark will give the caliber of the rod at
that point; that is, the length of the mark
numbered 24 will be equal to the diameter of
the rod 24 inches from the handgrasp, if the

Fig. 27—Taper Gauge.

taper is uniform. Fig. 27 explains the method.
To make the diagram handier, let the horizon-
tal lines be 9, 18, or 36 inches long, dividing
the total into nine spaces of equal length, the
result being alike in every case if the distances
at the ends are exactly what the rod is to be
at taper and top.

TOOLS NEEDED. 73

Now, take a piece of brass and by sawing
first and trimming with a file afterward, form
a slot 4% inches deep, 15-32 inch wide at the
top, and 7-64 inch wide at the bottom. Every
half inch scratch a line across and mark these
6, 12, etc., with a sharp-pointed instrument.
This will serve as a gauge for uniform taper-
ing.

If, however, you have decided what the
caliber of your rod is to be at every six-inch
station, you can utilize a piece of brass with
ten square notches filed in its edges, the largest
being 15-32 inch and the smallest 7-64, every
notch to be equal in width to the caliber of the
rod at the corresponding station. ‘These can
be numbered from 6 to 54, respectively, in half
feet.

For smoothing off rough places on metal fit-
tings, taking the sharp corners off guides and
many other little details, a fine three-cornered
file will be very useful. I prefer the needle file
because it will fit into a loop in the cover of
my fly-book, and it can be used in lieu of a
saw on occasion. AQ file of this sort is about
six inches long, flat on one side, and slightly
convex on the other. Its width is about one-
eighth inch in the center, tapering to a fine

74 AMATEUR RODMAKING

point. Although somewhat delicate, its high
tempering prevents frequent breakage, and it
can be used on rod fittings without scratching
more than with emery cloth.

CHAPTER V
TYPES OF BAIT-CASTING RODS

O some persons it may seem that while
an eleven-foot rod must be nicely ta-
pered and balanced, a rod only half as

long, being more or less stick-like, if made a
given caliber, will answer. Nothing could be
further from the truth. While it is a fact that
-arod 5% feet in length requires less time and
material than one of the old-fashioned long
bait-fishing rods, it must be even more care-
fully made, for an error of one-sixty-fourth of
an inch in the caliber of butt or tip may render
it comparatively worthless. A mistake in the
long rod may be hidden in its greater resilience,
and this may save it, but reduce the length by
one-half and you more than double the work
required of each foot.

_ For a long time after I first began to experi-
ment with the modern bait-casting rods I felt
sure that, for an all-round rod one of six feet
or slightly longer seemed preferable to those
of lesser lengths. Exhaustive experiments with

73

76 AMATEUR RODMAKING

rods of various lengths and with reels and
lines, in fishing and in tournament casting, have
convinced me that if we make our bait-casting
rods as delicate, relatively, as our fly-rods, and
still retain ample resilience, strength, and back-
bone, 534 feet seems a very good average
length. |

Numerous well-known advocates of short
rods have arrived at the same conclusion. So
well known are they that their advice seems
worthy, especially as their conclusions have
been proved sound by the vast number of 5%4-
foot rods used in the national casting tourna-
ments and in bass fishing.

Sometimes it is said that the modern bait-
casting rod, like the long bow of merry Eng-
land, should be proportioned to the owner’s
height and strength. ‘There may be some-
thing in this, but I would hesitate to assert
that a six-footer should select a rod of his
height, and a man of medium stature one of
five feet.

Who was first to advance this theory I do
not know, but Alfred Ronalds, in his ‘ Fly-
Fisher’s Entomology” (London, 1836), said
of salmon and trout fly-rods:

“Like the bow of the archer, the rod of the
angler should be duly proportioned in dimen-

BAIT-CASTING RODS Fi

sions and weight to the strength and stature
of him who wields it.”

Possibly a short man may get better results
with a five foot rod than with one of six feet,
but there is little to recommend any rod
shorter than five feet, since it must be stubby
if badly proportioned, or weak if of too small
diameter. If the handgrasp is less than twelve
inches in length, and the taper begins at 15-32
of an inch and is hollow for a short distance,
then gradual to the top, with a diameter there
of 7-64 inch, the 66-inch rod will be equally
serviceable for fishing and for practice in
tournament casting. It may well be termed an
all-round rod.

In view of these facts, as well as for the
sake of brevity and simplicity, I will try to in-
struct beginners in making bait rods 5% feet
in length. The application of the same princi-
ples to the making of rods of other lengths
will follow naturally and fly-rods will be treated
separately.

Several things must be considered by the be-
ginner before he obtains his rod materials:

First. It is evident that the ideal rod is one
made of a single length of wood or split bam-
boo, with a handgrasp permanently glued on
its large end. But while this is particularly

78 AMATEUR RODMAKING

true of split bamboo, it does not apply with
equal force to wood, as it is more difficult to
obtain a slender straight-grained piece of wood
sixty-six inches in length and free from knots
and other imperfections. Still, this is not im-
possible.

Second. A rod with only one joint. Such
rods are frequently made with a long tip and
a separate handgrasp. This is a most excellent
type, and rods of this form are very popular.
They are more compact than the one-piece
rods, and almost if not quite equal to them.

Third. A rod consisting of a butt and a
tip of the same length. ‘This is not quite the
equal of rods of the second class, but much
more handy to make and to carry about.
Theoretically the ferrule should not be placed
in the middle of the rod; practically a very
good rod can be so made. Its simplicity is
marked. It is a very common type, particu-
larly in salt water fishing. I have made sev-
eral rods, each consisting of one length, and
have invariably cut them in two later on, plac-
ing the ferrule in the middle, or in the thick
part near the handgrasp. Very little difference
in the action of these rods, before and after
altering, was noticeable.

Fourth. A rod consisting of a butt, a joint,

BAIT-CASTING RODS 79

and a tip, all of equal length. This is the most
common type known to-day, the handiest for
carrying, but with its faults. Its ferrules are,
in theory, placed to better advantage than are
those of the rod of the second class. Practice
undoubtedly proves this theory correct. In a
rod of 5% feet, however, the ferrules mate-
rially stiffen it at these two points, and it must
be very carefully proportioned.

CHAPTER VI
ONE-PIECE BAIT-CASTING RODS

SSUMING that you have obtained all the
A materials needed, we will begin our ac-
tual rodmaking, taking the rods as they

are given and commencing with one of the first
class, as it is the easiest type to make. As your
rod, when finished, is to be 5% feet long, the
agate top adding about 5% of an inch, the wood
should be slightly more than 5% feet long, to
allow for cutting down finally to 6534 inches.
Assuming that your wood is 5-inch square
and free from knots, plane it a trifle on all sur-
faces and from both ends, to determine which
way the grain runs; and having decided which
shall be the butt end, drill two holes through
the wood very close to that end, as shown in
Fig. 28, and drive a brad in the right-hand end
of your workbench, so that you can hook the
big end of the wood over the brad and plane
away from it, which is much more satisfactory
than butting the small end of the wood against

a cleat at the far end of the bench.
80

ONE-PIECE RODS 81

Fig. 28.—Arranging the Wood for Planing.

Plane the wood until it is straight and true,
the gauge showing that it is %4 inch thick on
each side throughout its length. If it 1s
crooked, do not worry, and do not attempt to
correct this by planing more off one side than
the other. It can be straightened perfectly
later on. Mark the exact center at each end
with two lines crossing in the center.

If your handgrasp is to be single, mark a
point ten inches from the butt end and continue
the line entirely around the wood. This will
allow you to saw off an inch where the holes
are, and give you space for a nine-inch hand-
grasp. If the grasp is to be double, allow
twelve inches, for an eleven-inch grasp.

Begin at your pencil mark and plane care-
fully and evenly to the tip end on all sides.
Use the caliper frequently, noting the diam-
eter every six inches. If there is a thick place,
mark it heavily with the pencil and plane that
part lightly, then continue to reduce all sides
until you have a nice even taper and the small

82 AMATEUR RODMAKING |

end is 5-32 of an inch thick. Holding the tip
end on the floor, exert a slight pressure and
note the curve of the whole piece, which should
arch nicely, the curve diminishing gradually
toward the butt. Turn it, and see if the
spring is fairly uniform on all sides.

Now caliper carefully and trim off uneven
places until the diameter of both sides is exactly
alike at each six-inch station. Use the small
plane for this work, setting it very fine.

A piece of board with a groove in one edge,
preferably four feet long, is now in order.
Pine tongue-and-groove stuff, used for parti- |
tions, is ideal. Its value for other branches of
rodmaking will be explained further on. Plane
the edge, so that the groove will be shallow at
the tip end, and fasten it in the vise or nail it
lightly to the side of the bench. Lay the rod
in the groove, with one of the four corners
uppermost, and setting your small plane a trifle
coarse, take off the corner evenly from butt to
tip, ignoring your pencil mark.

Turn to the next corner and plane it, then
the other two. Use the utmost care in trans-
forming the strip from square to octagon form,
and caliper frequently until it is of exactly the
same diameter on every side at each six-inch
station. You are now shaping the strip, so that

ONE-PIECE RODS 83

the next step will make it round, and in this
stage haste will work sad havoc with later
plans. The eye, the caliper and testing the
arch must all be depended on at this stage.
Every one of the eight sides must be uniform.
A perfect strip is illustrated in Fig. 36, p. 103.

Setting your small plane very fine again, lay
the strip in the groove and take off one of the
corners the full length. ‘Turn to the next one
and remove it, and so on. The rod is now ap-
proximately round, cylindrical in its first foot, —
then tapering gradually to the small end.

There are various ways to make it perfectly
round. One is to lay it flat on the bench, and
holding it under the palm of the left hand, roll
it backward and forward while sandpapering
it with a sheet of that abrasive folded over a
block of wood, held in the right hand and
moved rapidly up and down the rod. I prefer
the flat steel scraper, and turn the rod rapidly
while working from end to end, using the
grooved board to hold it steady.

Stop frequently and draw the rod through
the fingers to locate uneven places. If none
are found, go over the rod thoroughly with
sandpaper folded and held in the hand with-
out the block. You are now ready for final
tapering.

84. AMATEUR RODMAKING

At this stage I take a strip of paper the full
length of the rod and draw two parallel lines
on it, each 653 inches in length. The upper
line I mark “rough calibers,” and the lower
line “ final calibers.”” Marks are placed on each
line to indicate the place where the taper of
the handgrasp is to be, then every six inches
to the tip end. Lay the rod beside the upper
line on your paper, caliper it at every station,
and set these figures down on the correspond-
ing mark. Note them carefully, for if the
wood has been planed properly in the square,
the tapers will be nearly uniform from hand-
grasp to tip-end, but the wood will not, in this
form, be properly proportioned for use.

If you were working by rule-of-thumb, with-
out a rod to copy, the only thing would be to
put a top and guides on the rod temporarily,
fasten a reel on the butt with cord, run the
line through, attach a quarter- or half-ounce
weight, and try a few casts; but the formula
in Fig. 29 will save time. These calibers were
taken from several bethabara rods that have
seen long use in fishing and practice casting.

If the wood is dagama or greenheart, add
1-64 of an inch or a trifle less to each diam-
eter given. Try the rod before deciding, for
the action varies with different pieces of wood,

ONE-PIECE RODS 85

and none can be exactly alike. In Fig. 29 the
lower line of figures mark the six-inch stations;
the upper figures the final calibers of a beth-
abara rod. It will be noted that, commenc-
ing at the cylindrical butt end, the calibers de-

S ee "Soa Fe he %2 % Yn Ke So % Ton
2 Be 24 30 80 42 48 r) C) 60

Fig. 29.—Calibers of a Bethabara Rod.

crease rapidly to the thirty-inch station, then
are nearly uniform to a point close to the top.

Mark these calibers on the lower line of
your paper, and note the variations between
them and the calibers of your rod. Then
scrape or sandpaper from your pencil mark to-
ward the tip, gauging often until your rod is
very nearly as small as it is to be finally. Now
tie on a reel, guides, and top and try the rod
in casting. If it pleases you, go over it lightly
with fine sandpaper and fit the agate top per-
manently. Use a flat file in tapering the wood
to fit the tube snugly. Heat your ferrule ce-
ment and coat the wood lightly with it, then
heat the tube of the top, push it home, and turn
it around until the inside is evenly coated with
cement.

Measure from agate top to butt and saw the

86 AMATEUR RODMAKING

latter at the 66-inch mark. Warm the agate
top over the flame of a match and remove it
for the present.

Select a number of corks and warm your
glue. A piece of thin 15-32 inch tubing is now
needed. An old ferrule will answer. File the
outside of one end until the edge is sharp.
Holding the tube in the center of a cork, with
a pad in the palm of the hand to prevent that
end from cutting you, turn the tube evenly until
it cuts through the cork like a wad-cutter. The
result will surprise you—a nice smooth hole
through this seemingly difficult substance to
work. Do not, however, try to hammer the
tube through the cork.

Drop this cork circlet over the tip of your
rod and push it slowly down to the butt, the
last inch of which has previously been coated
with hot glue. Punch out another cork, slide
it down, coat the first one with glue, press them
into close contact. Proceed in this manner
until you have ten corks on the rod, giving you
a handgrasp approximately five inches long.

Now procure a piece of white pine 5 inches
long and 34 inch in diameter. Bore a 15-32-
hole through it and round off the outside until
it will go inside the reelseat easily. This should
be perfectly made, and it may be best to have
it turned in a lathe. Taper one end until it

ONE-PIECE RODS 87

will fit the taper of the reelseat nicely, while
the other end should lack a quarter-inch of
being as long as the reelseat. Slide this pine
sleeve down over the rod (see Fig. 30), coat

i I eines A ALAM

a 30.—Corks in Place and Sleeve Ready to Be Glued
n.

the rod and the uppermost cork with glue,
press the pine sleeve home and put the rod
aside for a couple of days until the glue dries.
If you want the handgrasp to be shaped in

a certain way and be nicely finished, have it
turned in a lathe. I prefer to have mine per-
fectly cylindrical throughout, and press the reel-
seat into the top cork, leaving a right-angled
shoulder to serve in lieu of a finger hook. I
take a piece of sandpaper, folded round a block
of wood, and turning the rod rapidly, work
back and forth lengthwise of the grasp, gaug-
ing frequently, then using fine sandpaper until
the grasp is cut down to 1 1-16 inch in diam-
eter. |
Taper the lower corks until the buttcap will
fit snugly. Warm the buttcap, rub a little ce-

88 AMATEUR RODMAKING

ment inside, push it home, and when it is cold
drill a hole in it and into the butt of the rod,
drive a brass pin home and file it off flush with
the surface of the cap. Wipe off surplus ce-
ment.

In fitting the reelseat over the pine sleeve,
place the hooded end down, so that in fitting
the reel to the seat the band will pull down
and in this way bring the reel near the hand, so
that the index finger will grip the cork shoulder
and render your control of the reel and rod
firm. If the yoke of the reel fits the seat as it
should, and the band is tight, the reel will never
work loose, even in a long fight with a big fish.

The three-quarter-inch commercial reelseat
is about 434 inches long, and for bait-rods the
correct way—in theory, at least—is to fit it
with the sliding band at the bottom, so that the
band will push forward over the reel-yoke and
counteract the tendency of the reel to work
loose in playing a fish. Fitted with the hood
on the upper end of the reelseat, the reel goes
so far forward that more than an inch of the
seat is exposed, and the right hand must grip
this metal instead of the firmer and less slip-
pery cork or cord wound grasp; hence, the
shape of a well-formed grasp counts for less
than it should.

ONE-PIECE RODS 89

If the handgrasp is single, the length of the
reelseat does not so much matter, but when the
grasp is double I prefer to cut the reelseat
down to a length of 334 inches, and also file
the after end of the reel-yoke until its length is
only 2% inches. This brings the reel nearer
the hand, and also places the upper grasp
where the left hand can rest on it in spooling
the line.

Formerly I made all my bait-casting rods
with double handgrasps, but have finally ar-
rived at the conclusion that for tournament
casting the upper grasp is a useless thing that
serves only to stiffen the rod at that point. I
always grasp the reel in spooling line and in
playing a fish, holding the reel with three fin-
gers of the left hand, while the index finger and
the thumb spool the line. Making the grasp
single and short adds to the resilience of the
rod and makes it neater, and easier to build.
_ LT always place the hooded end of the seat down,
and if the band is wedged tightly over the
yoke, as it should be, there is no play. A
great many sea and other rods are made with
the hooded end down.

See that the yoke of your reel is standard.
Formerly every manufacturer made yokes as
best suited his fancy, but some twenty years

909 AMATEUR RODMAKING

ago the National Rod and Reel. Association
adopted three standards for reel-yokes. The
smallest, 34-inch, was cut on the arc of a ten-
cent piece; for 7%-inch reelseats, a nickel; and
for 1-inch reelseats, a silver quarter. Nearly
all manufacturers follow these gauges. _

Assemble all the parts of the reelseat and
push it down over the pine sleeve, working 1t
well into the topmost cork, to form a water-
proof joint. If the taper fits the tapered end of
the pine sleeve, remove the seat, coat the sleeve
with cement or glue and push the reelseat
home. A brass pin through the hooded end
and reelseat will fix the metal parts of your
handgrasp rigidly. This pin should merely
enter the wood of the rod, but not penetrate
far, or it may weaken it. I prefer to set two
very small brass camera screws, one on each
side of the hood, and two of these instead of
one pin in the buttcap. They are not so likely
to work loose as is the case with pins. They
should be 3 inch long.

Now go over the rod with the finest sand-
paper, wet the wood to raise the grain, let it
dry, then cut it down with a bit of well-worn
fine sandpaper, polish diligently with shavings
from the rod, and finally rub with tissue paper
until you secure a high gloss. Replace the

ONE-PIECE RODS 91

agate top, rub the rod with coach varnish on a
rag, and suspend it on a brad in an airy or
sunny place free from dust until it is dry. If
it is crooked, let it hang with a heavy reel in
place.

Tie the guides on with cord, attach a reel,
and practice with the rod until you are satis-
fied—either that it suits you or that it needs
reducing a trifle in places where it seems too
stiff. ;

Just here it is well to quote the late Major
Traherne, who, in ‘“‘ The Badminton Library
on Salmon and Trout,” said of the greenheart
salmon rod:

‘“‘T am at a loss how to describe it, but its
virtue lies in an equal distribution of strength,
in proportion, from the butt to the point. A
heavy butt, with no spring to it, and with a
weak top, is of little use for casting purposes
beyond a certain distance. ‘The spring should
be felt, to a certain extent, to the bottom of
the butt when casting; and I consider a rod
which does not possess this quality of little or
no value.”

This applies to all rods, whether for lure or
fly-casting; but in finishing the bait-rod it is
well to remember that for quick, snappy cast- —
ing the taper from the middle to the tip-end

92 AMATEUR RODMAKING

should be more rapid than in a rod intended
for slow, even casting with light lures, and for
accuracy casting. In this the taper may be
rapid for a short distance, then slow to the tip,
giving greater resilience to the whole rod, but
retaining strength near the handgrasp.

Several trials should satisfy you with the
rod. If it is reduced in places, finish as before,
with the final coat of varnish rubbed in. This
thin coat serves as a protection under the silk
windings, which, as will be explained in the
proper place, are put on without wax. You are
now ready to wind and varnish the rod.

If you decide to wind the grasp with cord,
procure one of the pine single grasps which
_ cost about twenty cents, and trim it to fit the
reelseat snugly, tapering at the forward end to
fit the metal taper. Slide it down over the rod
and glue it in place. When dry form a shoul-
der at the bottom so the cord will end there, as
shown in Fig. 31, and wind with cord. The
cord should be covered for a quarter-inch at
the butt by the cap, and for an equal distance
at the other end by the reelseat. The latter is
put on in the same fashion as with a cork
grasp. |

If you wish to make a double cork grasp,
the reelseat and taper shown in Fig. 18 are

ONE-PIECE RODS 93

necessary. In this case the corks for the lower
grasp are followed with a pine sleeve a quar-
ter-inch shorter at each end than the reelseat.
This is cemented on and another cork pressed
down until it butts against the sleeve and is
_ pierced slightly by the upper end of the reel-
seat. More corks are glued on until the de-
sired length of the small upper grasp is at-
tained, then the glue given time to dry. The
cork is then worked down, tapering forward
until the small metal taper finishes it off. This
is cemented lightly in place.

A double grasp, cord wound, requires more
care. It is first necessary to obtain a pine
grasp, bored through. These come in the
shape shown in Fig. 32, and much longer than
necessary. Saw in the middle, fit, and wind
the lower grasp, try the reelseat and cut off
the cylindrical part of the grasp so that the
joint will come under the reel, rather below
the center. Attach the reelseat permanently
and fit the upper grasp, making it fit snugly,
but allowing for the thickness of the cord to
be wound over it. Now wind a dozen turns
of cord over the upper grasp (see Fig. 33)
and try it, removing the cord and taking off
a little wood until it will butt against the other
end under the reelseat. Replace the cord,

94 AMATEUR RODMAKING

a

a SES

Fig. 31.—Cord-wound Pine Handgrasp.

Fig. 33—Upper Grasp Ready for Ghee in Place.

coat the rod and inside of sleeve with glue and
push it home. Continue the winding until the
upper grasp is covered, then tie off and fit the
taper (Fig. 18) snugly in place.

These cord-wound grasps should be given
two coats of shellac and one of coach varnish
as soon as they are dry. It must be remem-
bered that small cord, when varnished, is
somewhat slippery when wet, and large cord
is harsh to the hand. If the size is equal to
that of D or E silk lines it will make a good
grasp.

I prefer the cork grasps for many reasons,
among them being the ease with which they
ean be made after one has had a little practice.
Cork must be humored, as it were. If you find
that sandpapering the grasp lengthwise does
not result in a velvety finish, secure the rod in

ONE-PIECE RODS 95

a vise after wrapping it with several thicknesses
of cloth, and with a long strip of the finest
sandpaper, go over the grasp just as a boot-
black does with his polishing cloth, turning the
rod occasionally. You will soon learn to im-
part a nice finish, and this will prove that you
can, on a pinch, get along without the use of
a lathe.

CHAPTER VII

ONE-PIECE BAIT-CASTING RODS WITH SEPA-
RATE HANDGRASPS

O make a rod of the second class, in
which the handgrasp is to be single and
nine inches in length, the wood for the

tip, inclusive of the agate top, will be approxi-
mately 58%4 inches long, as the ferrule center
on the large end of the tip will enter the hand-
grasp ferrule about 1% inches. ‘These fer-
rules should be 15-32 of an inch in diameter
and of the type shown in Fig. 17. The large
end of tip is marked for a distance equal to
the small end of the center, and the wood care-
fully reduced with a file until it will enter the
center snugly to its very end, as illustrated in
Fig. 34. The center is then cemented on, and
the tip is ready for its rubbed coat of varnish
and the winding. Obviously this tip is to be
made of the same diameter as rods of the first
class—described in a preceding chapter—save
that it begins to taper at the ferrule.

Rods of this class are not always made with

06

SEPARATE HANDGRASPS 97

two tips, but this can be done by purchasing
two centers to fit the ferrule in the handgrasp.
By making one tip as described above, and the

Lynd yy yyy wn

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Fig. 34.—Large End of Tip, Shouldered to Fit a Capped
Ferrule Center.

other one with a rapid or hollow taper for six
inches above the ferrule, then gradual to the
small end, practically two rods will be the re-
sult. One tip can be stiff, for distance casting,
and the other one more willowy, for accuracy
or light lure casting—a very useful combina-
tion. I have made a tip of this sort from beth-
abara which will cast a quarter-ounce lure
nicely, and is so well proportioned that it is a
pleasant rod to fish with. The dimensions
follow, and may be compared for reference
with those given in Fig. 29. ‘The center is
15-32 of an inch, and the wood tapers quickly
at first, to 23-64 at the six-inch mark; at 12
inches, 21-64; 18 inches, 19-64; two feet, 17-64;
2% feet, 15-64; three feet, 13-64; 3% feet,
11-64; four feet, 5-32; 414 feet, %; 58%
inches, at the top, 7-64 of an inch.

98 AMATEUR RODMAKING

A separate single handgrasp can be made as
follows: Fit the ferrule (Fig. 17) on a piece
of light but springy wood like spruce, dagama,
or greenheart. ‘This must be rounded nicely
and the ferrule seated on it just so that the

" von tunannwnnnaabad

Fig. 35.—Ferrule Riveted on Wood Core of Hand-
grasp, Pine Sleeve Ready to Be Glued On, and Reelseat
and Corks for Grasp.
center will not touch the wood. Cement and
rivet the ferrule on to the core, fit a pine
sleeve over the wood and the ferrule, with
forward end of sleeve tapered to fit a reel-
seat like that shown in Fig. 16. Now try the
reel-seat, and when it fits snugly, with its lower
end extending a quarter-inch below the pine
sleeve, glue the sleeve on the wood and the
reel-seat on it, and rivet or screw the reel-
seat in place.

Slide a perforated cork forward over the
wood and work the end of the reel-seat into
it until it butts against the end of the sleeve,

SEPARATE HANDGRASPS 99

Glue this cork in place, following with others
until the total length of grasp, inclusive of
reel-seat, is nine inches, when the wood core
is cut off and the cork finished and fitted with
a butt-cap. A handgrasp of this form will
never come apart if properly made. Its parts
are anchored at both ends.

If to be cord-wound, the pine grasp is fitted
over the wood core and ferrule, ithe taper
placed over the ferrule and the grasp fitted to
it, as in Fig. 35. Beginning at a point that
will be covered by the after end of the reel-
seat, the grasp is wound a few turns with cord
and the reel-seat fitted over it. The core is
then coated with glue and the grasp pushed
forward until the reel-seat and the tapered
end of the grasp fit closely, when the winding
is resumed and tied off at the shouldered butt
end. The butt cap and reel-seat being riveted
in place, this separate grasp is ready for shel-
lac and varnish.

If to be double, and cord-wound, the for-
ward grasp is first fitted over the wood core,
the taper (Fig. 18) pushed up against the welt
on the ferrule, and a few turns of cord wound
on the tapered end of the upper grasp, then
this grasp glued in place on the wooden core,
with the winding covered by the taper. Con-

100 AMATEUR RODMAKING

tinue to wind down to the cylindrical part, fit
the reel-seat and glue it on, wind a few turns
over the lower grasp, try it, and finally glue
it in place; then wind to the shouldered butt
end and fit the butt cap. The two parts of
the pine grasp abut inside the reel-seat, as
illustrated in Fig. 33.

CHAPTER VIII

TWO-PIECE BAIT-CASTING RODS

OR a rod consisting of two pieces of
equal length, it is well to begin with a

butt three feet long and 5%-inch square,
and two tips, each three feet by 34-inch. If
the taper is to be the same as in the rod of
the first class, the only extras will be a 17-64-
inch ferrule with two closed-end centers, one
for each tip. The tips will taper from 17-64
to 7-64 inch.

Naturally the beginner would make the butt
first, whereas I advise him to make the tips
first, for this reason: ‘The offset and tube tops
are not all of the same length, and if it is de-
sired to make all pieces exactly the same
length, the tips should be finished first. ‘This
applies especially to three-piece rods, in mak-
ing which it is difficult for the beginner to
figure correctly on the separate parts; for the
length of the tip is added to when the top is
put on, and each of the ferrules adds some-

thing, so that it is hard to get all pieces of the
10]

102 AMATEUR RODMAKING

same length without wasting time trying and
cutting until all are correct.

I give exact lengths for each piece, but if it
is desired to make the rod longer or shorter
than five and one-half feet, it must be remem-
bered that the trimmed tip shown in Fig. 38
is slightly more than one-half the total length
of the rod, for the reason that the ferrule on
the butt adds 1% inches to the actual length
of the wood; hence the wood in the butt must
be slightly shorter than the wood in the tips,
in order that all parts will be the same length
when completed.

Extreme care must be exercised in fitting the
centers on the tips, as the least uneven place
will force the center out of true alignment, and
this applies to the ferrule, too. It is also easy
to break a tip in sandpapering. When the
tips are finished (see Fig. 37) they will be 33
inches in length and 3334 when fitted with
centers and tops, as shown in Fig. 38. When
polished for the last time, they should be
rubbed with varnish and suspended.

One of the common bevel-gear drill stocks,
with a chuck large enough to take a %-inch
drill, can be made to serve you in a way its
manufacturers probably never thought of.
This tool is made with a revolving wheel and

TWO-PIECE RODS 103

EEE
Fig. 36—Tip Planed to Octagon Section.
Fig. 37—Tip Ready for Mounting

So
Fig. 38.—Tip Fitted with Center and Top

Fig. 39.—Butt Joint Finished and Ready for Handgrasp
and Ferrule.
handle on one side, for the right hand, and
a stationary knob on the other, for steadying
with the left hand. Remove this knob and
fasten its spindle in the vise, wheel and handle
ontop. The chuck will take one of your tips,
but do not close it too tightly. Turn the wheel
with your left hand and polish your tips with
a bit of sandpaper held in the right hand,
moving forward and back very rapidly, to pre-
vent circular scratches. If the tip is springy,
be very careful as you approach its small end,
for with this makeshift lathe you may snap
off the end if you happen to let the sandpaper
slip and catch it.

By fitting a wood plug into the ferrule and
securing the other end of the plug in the chuck,
you can polish the butt or joint of your rod,

104 AMATEUR RODMAKING

but it is advisable to have someone else turn
the wheel while you support the rod with one
hand and polish with the other. ‘This of

course applies to tips, too.

Split Bamboo Tournament Rod with Cylindrical Cork
Handgrasp.

Bethabara Casting Rod.

(|
SN es ee ee |

Jucara Prieto Casting Rod with Double Cord-wound
Handgrasp.

Figure 40.

The butt of your rod will be 32% inches
long when ready for ferrule and handgrasps
(see Fig. 39). It will taper from 15-32 at
the forward end of grasp to 19-64 at the fer-
rule, it being remembered that the cap or
shoulder on this ferrule is 1-32 of an inch
larger than the cap on its center.

At first the tip may seem too heavy, but it
must be remembered that it should be heavier
in a wood rod than in one of split bamboo,
and that whereas many split bamboo tourna-
ment rods are made with very little resiliency

TWO-PIECE RODS 105

in the butt, the wood rod, when the tip is
placed on the floor and pressure applied, should
show a nice arch for more than half its length
from the tip, while there should be quite a bit
of spring below the ferrule. ‘There is no fixed
rule for determining how much to take off the
butt. Testing it repeatedly will be the best
plan, but if it still seems too stiff, the diameter
of the butt must be reduced with the greatest
care, else you may go too far. Placing the
ferrule in the center of the rod requires more
care in trying it out than if there are two fer-
rules—as in a three-piece rod—but practice
with reel and weight will satisfy you.

When the taper of the butt joint suits you,
the grasp is put on as described in Chapter
VI., the wood is finished as described for the
tips, rubbed with varnish, and it is then ready
for winding. It is made without pins through
ferrule and centers, as will be noted. Pins keep
the ferrules in place, but unless put in by an
expert they may weaken the wood where it
needs strength, and good cement may be de-
pended on. At most a ferrule may work loose,
but it is merely necessary to warm it tempo-
rarily to secure it until it can be removed and ©
put back with new winding or a little more
cement.

1066 AMATEUR RODMAKING

All of the best rods are equipped with
pinned ferrules, and they seldom work loose.
But these are fitted by expert workmen, aided
by the finest machine tools. As I am writing
from the beginner’s point of view, I advise
cement only. Should a joint be broken while
you are far from home, there is no trouble-
some pin to pick out. Instead, you warm the
ferrule, push out the broken wood, and set the
ferrule on a freshly fitted part.

CHAPTER IX

THREE-PIECE RODS

y \HE most common type known is the

three-piece rod, the separate parts of

which are of equal length. The angler
who must go far afield for his fishing demands
a rod that is compact, just as he wants a take-
down gun in the autumn. The difficulty expe-
rienced in traveling in trains and street cars,
as well as in walking through crowded streets,
argues against unwieldy parcels, and the fly or
bait rod must be made in lengths convenient
to carry. The rodmaker might argue until
doomsday in favor of long-joint rods, claim-
ing better action, greater strength, etc., but he
could never persuade his patrons that these
qualities outweigh the greater handiness of
short joints.

This being true, the rodmakers place the
joints where they will affect the action of the
rods the least; namely, in two places,ymaking
even an I1-foot fly-rod conveniently portable

when taken down. They carry this practice to
107

108 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the longest salmon rods, which are nearly al-
ways made in three joints, proving that no
maker likes to place ferrules in the middle of
the rod—which is necessary in making a four-
joint rod. ‘The principal exceptions are the
short two-piece salt-water rods, which are
more or less:stiff throughout their length; and
the short bait-casting rods.

In a 514-foot bait-casting rod of the neces-
sary caliber, two ferrules make the joints very
short, and the stiff metal is actually about one-
eighth the total length of the rod. Aside from
the fact that the ferrules in short three-piece
rods are placed to better advantage, the rod
made in two pieces of equal lengths is to be
recommended. Certainly it is almost as easy
to make two of this type as one with three
joints and an extra tip. When the three-
joint rod is to be made 6 or 6% feet long,
however, its advantages increase with its
length.

In a 514-foot rod made in three pieces of
equal length, and of the caliber given in Fig.
29, the ferrules will be 21-64 inch, with one
center; and 13-64 inch, with two centers, for
the tips. The tips when completed and fitted
with tops, will be 2234 inches long and will be
tapered from 13-64 to 7-64. Finish these first.

THREE-PIECE RODS 109

It is well to bear in mind that you cannot make
each of the other two joints one-third of the
total length of the finished rod, for the reason
that the tip is to be pushed one inch into the
ferrule of the middle joint, and this in turn
1% inches into the ferrule on the butt joint,
while these two ferrules add to the actual
length of the two lower parts.

A more difficult problem in division and
addition it would be hard to find. The first
time I tried to make a rod of three pieces of
equal length I almost gave it up in despair,
for despite what I thought was exact calcula-
tion, the separate parts would vary or the total
would be too great. Finally I drew a pencil
mark on the floor just 514 feet long, and sit-
ting down, puzzled the problem out -by plac-
ing the three parts of the rod, with the fer-
rules beside them, on the line, and measuring
until the adjustments ‘were correct.

The actual length of the middle joint will
be 2134 inches, for the top or female ferrule
will extend 1 inch beyond the wood, making
this joint 2234 inches when it is finished.
Taper the wood from 21-64 to 15-64, it being
remembered that the cap of the ferrule is
slightly larger inside than the caps of its cen-
ters. Cement the ferrule on the small end of

110 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the middle joint and the center of the butt fer-
rule on the other end.

The wood of the butt joint will be 21%
inches long, as the ferrule adds 134 inches to
its total length, 2234 inches. Taper it from
15-32 at the pencil mark, indicating the upper
end of the handgrasp, to 11-32, to fit the cap
of the ferrule, which is 21-64 at the small end.

You are now ready for the handgrasp, the
various forms of which are described in pre-
ceding chapters. Careful testing is necessary
before this rod can be finished, for different
pieces of wood vary considerably, and it is sel-
dom one can make all the tapers just what he
expects to. The two lower joints may need
fining down until the action suits you, and in
some rods I have substituted 19-64 for the
21-64-inch lower ferrule, making a _ hollow
taper from handgrasp forward a few inches,
then uniform taper to the first ferrule.

If the rod is to be six feet long, which will
make it much sweeter for fishing and accuracy
casting—its three joints considered—the fer-
rules should be 15-64 and 21-64. One of my
favorite bethabara rods is 5 feet 1034 inches
long and it is a very pleasant rod to fish with.
Its ferrules and calibers are the same as those
given above.

CHAPTER X
SALT-WATER RODS

HE best type of rod for salt-water fish:
ing is the long tip and separate hand-
grasp. This applies to all rods used in

sea fishing, whether for tarpon, tuna, striped
bass, weakfish, or small fry, the length and
weight depending on the kind of fish angled
for. By using the separate handgrasp, the
joint can be made very strong, and tips of dif-
ferent caliber or length are available, one
handgrasp serving for a part of two or more
rods.

Two-piece rods, with the parts equal in
length, come next. Other styles are used occa-
sionally.

Bethabara is the favorite wood and split
bamboo is coming into more general use for
weakfish rods and even for larger fish, includ-
ing tuna and tarpon.

It has long been the practice to equip heavy
salt-water rods with two sets of guides, so that

any inclination of the tip toward set can be
IIL

112 AMATEUR RODMAKING

corrected by turning it half-way round and
using the other guides, etc. There are objec-
tions to this, due to the possibility of the line
catching on the lower guides, and among jan-
glers for big sea fish there are many who favor
one set of guides only. The strain of trolling,
and of fighting and landing heavy fish on a
long line will permanently set any tip, but this
can be corrected now and then so that the
fault is not important.

I will give the specifications of three salt-
water rods I have made at various times, the
material of all being bethabara, and each being
a useful type. They are illustrated in Fig. 41.

Tarpon Rod.—Length, 6 feet 10% inches;
tip, 5 feet 514 inches. Handgrasp, 21 inches,
wound with celluloid and fitted with a rubber
button. Swell of handgrasp, I 11-32 inches.
Reel-seat, 1 1-16 inches in diameter. ‘Taper
of tip, 29-32 to 5-16 inch, uniform throughout.
Caliber of agate stirrup-tube top, 3 inch.
First set of trumpet guides, 9 inches from top;
second set, spaced 14 inches; third set, spaced
17 inches; set of agate hand guides, 25 inches
from reel. The weight is about 24 ounces.

Surf-Casting Rod.—Length, 6 feet 11%
inches; tip, 4 feet 1134 inches. Handgrasp,
2414 inches long, or 22% inches to center of

SALT-W ATER RODS 113

reel. Swell of grasp, 1 3-16 inches. Material,
a greenheart 17-32-inch core, covered with
solid cork, making a very light as well as
springy butt whose core is of the same diam-
eter as the tip, of which it is really a continu-
ation. Reel-seat, 7% inch, fitted for a 250-yard
reel. Tip calibers: ferrule center, 17-32 inch;
6 inches forward, 17-32; 12 inches, %; 18
inches, 15-32; 24 inches, 7-16; 30 inches,
13-32; 36 inches, 34; 42 inches, 21-64; 48
inches, 9-32; 54 inches, 17-64; at top, % inch.
Top, stirrup-tube, 5-16 caliber; raised agate
guide, 10% inches from top, with the second
guide 14 inches below the first and 36 inches
from the reel. Guide calibers, 5-16 and 3%
- inch,

This rod weighs only 13 ounces. It was
designed for the regulation 2%4-ounce lead
weight in long distance tournament casting, but
will also handle a 3- or 4-ounce sinker nicely,
this weight being necessary in casting in the
surf, where the combers will pick up a lighter
weight and carry it into shoal water. It also
has tremendous power for its weight, and is
resilient throughout its entire length, in which
it differs from rods having heavy, stiff hand- —
grasps; is a pleasant rod to fish with, and one
can cast a 244-ounce weight 175 to 200 feet

114 AMATEUR RODMAKING

with very little effort. The grasp is made in
the manner illustrated in Fig. 35, but the core
is largest under the reel, then tapers to about
3% inch at the butt, making it in fact a double-
tapered rod.

The grasp is so light that tips of small cali-
ber and length are available, but for all-round
sea fishing the handgrasp should be made
about six inches shorter.

Light Salt-Water Rod.—Length, 6 feet %
inch; joints, 367% inches. Weight, 13 ounces.
Handgrasp, double, cord-wound; length, 21
inches. Swell of lower grasp, 1% inches; of
upper grasp, I inch. Diameter of reel-seat,
7% inch. ‘Taper, handgrasp to ferrule, uni-
form, 35-64 to 29-64; ferrule center, 7-16
inch. Caliber of tip 6 inches from center,
13-323 12 inches, 25-64; 18 inches, 11-32; 24
inches, 21-64; 30 inches, 9-32; at top, 15-64
inch. Top, stirrup-tube, agate, 5-16; bell
guide, 9% inches from top; second guide, 5-16,
agate, spaced 1714 inches, and 27 inches from
reel.

This rod is pleasant to use for medium-sized
sea fish, and handles the standard 2%-ounce
weight nicely. In one of the tournaments of
the Anglers’ Club of New York in Central
Park five contestants used this rod, the best
cast with it being 190 feet.

SALT-WATER RODS 115

Surf-Casting Rod.

Light Salt-Water Rod.
Figure 41.

The details of construction for similar light
weight wood rods, already given, will apply to
these salt-water rods, save that heavier mate-
rial will be needed. For my tarpon rod I
obtained bethabara 1 inch square; for the surf
rod, 34 inch; for butt of two-piece rod, 34
inch, and for tip, 34 inch.

In making handgrasps for rods of this class
I leave the wood core somewhat rough, in
order that the glue will have better holding
ground than if the core were polished smooth.

Merely to give an idea of the expense, in
time and cash, to the amateur rodmaker, I
give below the following data relating to these
three rods. All are bethabara.

Tarpon Rod.—Cost of material, about
$7.50; time required, ten hours.

Surf Rod.—Cost of material, about $6;
time required, about seven hours.

116 AMATEUR RODMAKING
Light Salt-Water Rod—Material, $4;

time, nine hours.

If the surf rod is made of dagama, pur-
chased in billet form, the cost can be reduced
somewhat. The time given above refers only
to finishing and mounting the rod, and does
not include winding and varnishing.

| CHAPTER XI
BASS AND TROUT FLY-RODS

F the beginner is determined to make an
all-wood fly-rod before attempting to build
one of split bamboo, the directions previ-

ously given for three-joint bait-rods will apply |
here, with the exception that the joints must
be made somewhat longer, the taper slower,
and the reel-seat is placed below the hand.
Straight-grained bethabara makes a nice fly-
rod of medium weight, and dagama works
well.

It is scarcely advisable for the novice to
begin his rodmaking on a split bamboo trout
fly-rod of light weight, for the tips run so small
that one can hardly expect to do creditable
work on them at first. But bass fly-rods of
6% or 7 ounces are easier to build, and after
you have had some experience with butts and
joints, tip making will not present insurmount-
able difficulties.

Below are given the calibers of three typical
fly-rods that are excellent for fishing. They

117

118 AMATEUR RODMAKING

have seen hard service. All are hexagonal
bamboo. ‘The handgrasps are solid cork, the
hand guides agate, the other guides of steel,
snake-pattern, and the tops loose steel rings:

Heavy Fly-Rod.—Length, 9 feet 8 inches;
weight, 7 ounces. Joints, 39% inches long.
Grasp, 9% inches long, inclusive of 34-inch
reel-seat. Ferrules, serrated, waterproof,
21-64 and 13-64. Calibers: at taper, % inch;
12 inches from butt, 7-16; 18 inches, 13-32;
2 feet, 25-64; 2% feet, 34; 3 feet, 23-64;
3%, 11-32; 4 feet, 5-16; 4% feet, 19-64; 5
feet, 9-32; 5% feet, 17-64; 6 feet, 4; 6%
feet, 15-64; 7 feet, 3-16; 7% feet, 11-64; 8
feet, 9-64; 8% feet, %; 9 feet, 7-64; at top,
5-64 inch.

Medium Weight Fly-Rod.—Length, 9%
feet; joints, 3814 inches. Weight, 6 to 6%
ounces. Grasp, 9% inches; reel-seat, 34 inch.
Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 19-64 and
3-16. Calibers: butt joint, at taper, 13-32;
1 foot from butt, 25-64; 1% feet, 23-64;
2 feet, 11-32; 2% feet, 21-64; 3 feet, 19-64.
Middle joint, 6 inches, 19-64; 1 foot, 9-32;
1% feet, 17-64; 2 feet, 15-64; 214 feet, 7-32;
3 feet, 13-64. Tips, 6 inches, 11-64; 1 foot,
5-32; 1% feet, 9-64; 2 feet, 4%; 2% feet, 7-64;

Trout Fly-Rod.—Length, 9 feet; joints,

BASS AND TROUT FLY-RODS 119
36% inches. Weight, 534 ounces with 34-inch

metal reel-seat; with reel bands instead, a little
less than 5 ounces. Grasp, g inches long.
Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 9-32 and 11-64
inch. Calibers: butt joint, at taper, 7-16; 1
foot from butt, 25-64; 114 feet, 11-32; 2 feet,
21-64; 214 feet, 5-16; 3 feet, 19-64. Middle
joint, 6 inches, 9-32; 1 foot, 17-64; 1% feet,
15-64; 2 feet, 7-32; 2% feet, 13-64; 3 feet,
3-16. Tips, 6 inches, 11-64; 1 foot, 5-32;
Ei, tect, %; 2 feet, 7-64; 234 feet, 3-32;
3 feet, 5-64 inch.

Split-Bamboo Trout Fly-Rod.
Figure 42.

Ordinary sumach, obtainable in any thicket,
is nicely adapted to use for light handgrasps
where reel bands are to be used. It is green-
ish-yellow when varnished, but can be stained
nicely to resemble cedar or cherry, then var-
nished.

Tournament fly-rods are allowed 34 of an
ounce for metal reel-seats; therefore a rod just

1200 AMATEUR RODMAKING

under 434 ounces will be admitted to the four-
ounce class, and one just under 534 ounces to
the five-ounce class, if each has a metal reel-
seat. The length limit is 11% feet.

Five-ounce tournament rods are usually to
feet long and much stiffer than rods made ex-
clusively for fishing, but they are pleasant to
fish with, particularly on windy days, with a
heavy double tapered line.

Heavy single-hand tournament rods that are
admitted to the open-to-all trout fly contests
are limited only in length, to 11% feet, but
may be any weight. In the East these seldom
weigh more than 10% ounces and are gener-
ally 11 feet long, but in the West 11 feet 5
inches is a favorite length, and some rods
weigh as much as 13 ounces. ‘These are ex-
tremely stiff, and they are powerful enough to
lift 100 or more feet of heavy tapered line out
of the water.

The grasps are 12 to 15 inches long, and
the rods taper from about ™% inch at the grasp
to 7-64 at the top, with long and heavy split
or serrated ferrules. These vary in caliber, but
are about 34 and % inch in diameter. The
middle joint is heavy and tapers very little at
the lower end.

CHAPTER XIl
SALMON FLY-RODS

INCE the earliest days of fly-fishing sal-
. mon fly-rods have been made of solid

wood, and to-day, although split bamboo
is largely used for all other fly-rods, there is a
steady demand for solid wood salmon fly-rods.
In Great Britain greenheart salmon rods are
still the favorites with a vast number of the
anglers, and it is likely wood rods will never
be entirely replaced by those of split bamboo
for salmon fishing.

In America the demand for salmon rods is
small, for comparatively few of our anglers
go to the Northern and Northeastern waters
for these noble fish, and while those who prefer
split bamboo rods for trout and bass fishing
often wish to use rods of the same material
when they fish for’salmon, a great many favor
wood rods.

For tournament casting I prefer split bam-
boo to wood in all rods, but split bamboo sal-

mon rods are very expensive and a well-made
I2I

122 AMATEUR RODMAKING

wood rod will give its owner a great deal of
satisfaction. Furthermore, it is not so difficult
to make as some of the thinner fly-rods.

In a rod whose length ranges from thirteen
to eighteen feet and with a weight of 23 to
32 ounces or more, stiffness in the rod requires
muscle in the angler. To wield a stiff bamboo
rod of 25 ounces and a long and heavy line
during several hours’ fishing taxes the angler’s
strength more than does a whippy rod of
greater weight, and this is one reason why
wood rods are peculiarly adapted to salmon
fishing. A nicely proportioned wood rod has
good action and with it a fly can be cast and
fished with less exertion at ordinary salmon
fly-casting distances than is possible with the
stiffer bamboo rod, hence anglers of small
stature and average strength are likely to favor
wood rods.

Again, the split bamboo rod does not begin
to work until a certain length of line is ex-
tended; that is, it requires the pull of a long
line to make the rod spring properly. With-
out this spring the fly cannot be cast neatly at
any distance. Have you ever tried to cast a
fly with a stiff bait rod? You have sufficient
power in the rod, but lack the weight of line
that is necessary to get the snap that sends the
line in a rolling loop through the air. Try as

SALMON FLY-RODS 123

hard as you like, you will never be able to cast
a fly ten yards. The wood salmon rod is pro-
portionately as flexible as the whippiest trout
rod, therefore but little muscle and weight of
line are necessary to develop its spring, and its
user can cast lightly and sweetly at fifty or one
hundred feet—for the rod does most of the
_ work.

_ In salmon fishing rods, great power is not of
vital importance, for any one of these rods is |
capable of handling 100 to 125 feet of double
tapered line, and that means that they can be
depended on to kill the biggest salmon. It is
essential to kill these royal fish on the rod and
to gaff them only after their fight is ended;
therefore, a nicely balanced wood rod will an-
swer, it being conceded that bamboo will be
less likely to give way to the accidents that
may occur on any game fish stream.

Salmon fly-casting has grown more and more
popular among the clubs that practice fly-cast-
ing as a pastime, and men who have never seen
a salmon river and probably never will see one
have become adepts with the salmon rod and
its heavy line and leader. It appeals to many
who do not care for the contests with four and
five-ounce trout fly-rods, and it is an exceed-
ingly fascinating game.

For a long time the maximum limit to the

124 AMATEUR RODMAKING

length of tournament salmon rods was placed
at eighteen feet, but in 1907 this was changed
by the National Association and the limit
placed at fifteen feet. This is in line with the
desire to use lighter tackle, and it also enables
salmon fishermen to use their thirteen, four-
teen, and fifteen-foot fishing rods in tourna-
ments, placing them on fairly even terms with
contestants whose rods are made-for distance
casting only, but which would be rather stiff
for all-day angling.

Of all the fly-rods, the salmon rod is the
easiest one for the novice to build from solid
wood, and there is no reason why he should
not get excellent results from such a rod con-
structed for use exclusively in what is termed
tournament casting; in other words, all casting
for practice or for record.

I give the specifications of three salmon rods
that I have used with satisfaction in tourna-
ment casting, and these are illustrated in Fig-
ure 43.

Split Bamboo Salmon Rod.—Length, 14
feet 1114 inches; joints, 5 feet 1 inch; weight,
26 ounces; material, six-strip Calcutta bamboo.
Handgrasp, double, 24 inches long, solid cork
fitted to bamboo direct. Length of lower
grasp, 7 inches; diameter, 1 3-16; buttcap,

SALMON FLY-RODS 125

I 1-16; reel-seat, 6 inches long, 1 inch in diam-
eter; upper grasp, 11 inches long, diameter
73-16, Calibers: 24 inches from butt, at
taper, 41-64; 30 inches, 54; 3 feet, 39-64; 3%
feet, 19-32; 4 feet, 37-64; 414 feet, 35-64.
Ferrule, capped, welted, and serrated, 4%
inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule, 35%
inches long, 17-32; 6 inches from bottom,
17-32; 12 inches, %4; 18 inches, %4; 2 feet,
31-64; 2% feet, 15-32; 3 feet, 7-16; 3% feet,
fea? 4 feet, 34; 474 feet, 11-32; ferrule,
capped, welted, and serrated, 334 inches long.
Tips: Ferrule, 254 inches long, 21-64; 6
inches, 5-16; 12 inches, 19-64; 18 inches,
Q-32: 2 feet, 17-64; 2% feet, 15-64; 3 feet,
"23-64: 3% feet, 3-16; 4 feet, 11-64; 4% feet,
9-64; at top, % inch. Tops, loose ring, steel.
Guides: First, agate, 5-16; balance hard steel
snake guides, fifteen in all.

- Bethabara Salmon Rod.—Length, 14 feet
II inches; joints, 5 feet; weight, 28 ounces.
Handgrasp, double, 24 inches long, other di- |
mensions same as split bamboo. Calibers: 24
inches from butt, 34 inch; 30 inches, 45-64;
3 fect, 43-64; 332 feet, 54; 4 feet, 19-32;
41% feet, 9-16; ferrule, capped and welted, 334
‘inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule, 25%
inches long, 17-32 diameter; 6 inches, 17-32;

126 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Fourteen-foot Bethabara Salmon Rod.
Figure 43.

1 foot, 33-64; 18 inches, 33-64; 2 feet, 14; 2%
feet, 31-64; 3 feet, 15-32; 3% feet, 27-64; 4
feet, 13-32; 4% feet, 25-64; ferrule, capped
and welted, 334 inches long. Tips: Ferrule,
2 inches long, 23-64; 6 inches, 11-32; 1 foot,
21-64; 18 inches, 5-16; 2 feet, 19-64; 2% feet,
9-32; 3 feet, 14; 3% feet, 7-32; 4 feet, 3-16;
44 feet, 5-32; at top, % inch. Top, loose
steel ring. Guides, same as on bamboo rod.
Bethabara Salmon Rod.—Length, 14 feet;
joints, 57134 inches; weight, 25'4 ounces.
Handgrasp, same as on other rods. Calibers:
24 inches from butt, 51-64; 2% feet, 43-643
3 feet, 41-64; 3% feet, 39-64; 4 feet, 37-64;
4% feet, 37-64; ferrule, capped and welted,
334 inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule,
17-32; 6 inches, 17-32; 1 foot, 33-64; 18

SALMON FLY-RODS 127

inches, %4; 2 feet, 31-64; 2% feet, 15-323; 3
feet, 7-16; 3% feet, 13-32; 4 feet, 23-64; 4%
feet, 11-32; ferrule, capped and welted, 3%
inches long. Tips: Ferrule, 21-64; 6 inches,
5-16; 1 foot, 9-32; 18 inches, 17-64; 2 feet,
ta, 2% feet, 15-64; 3 feet, 7-32; 3% feet,
13-64; 4 feet, 11-64; 414 feet, 9-64; at top,
¥% inch. Top, loose steel ring. Guides, one
agate, balance steel snake ring, fourteen in all.

CHAPTER XIII

ON THE HISTORY OF THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD

HEN and where were split bamboo
\) \) fishing rods first made, and by
whom? This is a question that has
been discussed in the press of Great Britain
and America for very many years. It is gen-
erally conceded that the idea originated in Eng-
land, but the three-section rod was the only
development of the idea there; while on this
side of the Atlantic—if all available testimony
is trustworthy—the four-section rod came first,
and the hexagonal method followed very
shortly, to stay.

Whether the four-strip rod as made in Eng-
land was copied from those made here is un-
known, or so it seems, but the evidence at
hand points to that conclusion, since the four-
strip rod was commented on in the English
press of the early 70’s as something new,
whereas four-strip rods had been commonly
made here for a number of years previously.

The first mention of glued-up bamboo rods
128

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 129

that I have been able to find bears the date
~1805, as appears farther on. One Clark of
London was said to be “‘ the unrivalled maker ”
of such rods, and from this it is natural to
infer that other rodmakers were at that time
working bamboo into rods.

The first split bamboo rod to be made in
America was produced by Samuel Phillipe, of
Easton, Pa., in 1845, according to Dr. James
A. Henshall, who has devoted a great deal of
time to obtaining the facts. This was a four-
strip rod.

The first six-strip split bamboo rod to be
made anywhere was the invention of Hiram
L. Leonard, then of Bangor, Maine. The late
William Mitchell—himself a veteran rod-
maker—said that the Leonard rods were put
on the market about 1870. No improvement
worthy of the name has ever been invented to
replace six strips for rod joints, and to-day
they are conceded to be the last word in rod-
making. Seven-strip rods were at one time
made, notably by Edward Vom Hofe, of New
York, now deceased; and eight-strip rods have
been and are still occasionally made by a num- —
ber of firms; while rods in which the butts are
very heavy—as salmon and salt-water rods—
are commonly made of six pairs of strips. In

130 AMATEUR RODMAKING

these, two strips of rectangular section are first
glued together, to attain the necessary thick-
ness, then planed to triangular section. The
method is commonly called ‘‘ double enamel.”

A few British makers claim to have im-
proved the six-strip rod by adding steel cen-
ters; by winding with steel ribbons; and by
making them of treble enamel. But all these
things may better be called selling points than
improvements.

In the old-time angling books some writers
say the enamel of the cane should be placed
on the outside of the joint. That is readily
understood, and experience has shown that it
is the only reliable method. Other writers
mention the placing of the enamel on the inside
of the joint. At this day such workmanship
would, if advocated, be ridiculed. The first
reason for placing the enamel outside is to re-
tain as much as possible of the natural strength
of the cane; the enamel surface, being uneven,
may be more easily offset by matching if placed
outside; and finally, this enamel surface, even
when planed down slightly, offers poor hold-
ing ground for glue.

In the accompanying sketch Fig. 44 shows a
section ready for the glueing of the three strips
with the enamel outside. In Fig. 45 one of the

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 131

Figure 44. Figure 45.

two methods that were possible in placing the
enamel inside is shown, the heavy lines indi-
cating the enamel side of each strip. ‘The re-
maining method may have been that illustrated
in Fig. 46, but it is hardly to be believed that

Figure 46.

expert workmen would have cut away all of
the enamel in making their strips, since they
must have tested strips for stiffness and recov-
ering power, both before and after planing.

There is now, and always has been, no
doubt, but a step or two from bow and arrow
making to fishing rod building. When good

132 AMATEUR RODMAKING

yew became so scarce in Europe that bow-
makers were compelled to turn to other ma-
terials, they began to glue two varieties of
tough wood together, and such bows were
called backed bows, to distinguish them from
self bows, or those made of one piece of wood.
It is said that the old-time rodmakers em-
ployed bowmakers to help them, and as these
men were probably experts in making backed
bows, it is likely that they suggested splitting
canes to obtain excellent material for rods or
parts of rods.

If Phillipe, the gunsmith of Easton, Pa.,
was the originator of split bamboo rods in
America, as it is claimed he was, it is just pos-
sible that he, too, obtained the idea from one
of the old bows; for at that time it is likely
that imported bows were more common in
America than imported fishing rods.

It has also been suggested that Phillipe
might have seen an English rod made of three
strips of cane glued up, and at once concluded
that a better rod could be made of four than
three strips. But it is not likely that he was
a copyist, since Dr. Henshall mentions several
articles that he made, as well as rods. Living,
as he did, far in the interior, it is more reason-
able to believe that he worked out the four-
strip idea without assistance of any sort.

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 1383

The extracts and comments which follow
will, I believe, be read with more than passing
interest by the young anglers, few of whom
have ever seen a four-strip split bamboo—or,
as our British cousins call it, split cane rod.
And yet, it was only ten years ago that I
watched with interest the making of four-strip
rods by one of the old-time gunsmith-rod-
makers of the Middle West.

Through the kindness of Hugh T. Shering-
ham, angling editor of the Field of London, I
have succeeded in obtaining the following
from ‘Fishes and Fishing,” by W. Wright
(London, Thomas Cantley, 1858):

“In 1805 I became acquainted with a Welsh
gentleman, Mr. L., whose description of fly
fishing for trout and sewin fired my imagina-
tion, and I determined to become a fly fisher.
». . At my request he (Mr.,H., not Mr. L.)
introduced me to an old Welshman named
David Williams, whom Mr. H. had drilled
into making rods according to his plan; this
Williams was acquainted with Clark,* the un-
rivalled maker of glued-up bamboo fly rods,

* Mr. Sachs said of Clark: “I have endeavored to find
out who this Clark could have been, but even the assist-
ance of one in the forefront of the trade, who can com-
mand tradition going back eighty years, could produce
nothing definite. The only Clark was one living at 11

St. Johns Lane, Clerkenwell, but tradition does not re-
cord him as a maker of built-up rods.”

1384 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the most excellent of all rods. I obtained
about ten sticks of the proper cane, and Wil-
liams induced Clark to make one for me, and
another for my friend, Mr. L.”

Mr. Sheringham adds that in the Field of
March 26, 1904, E. T. Sachs “speaks with
certainty of one Ustonson of Bell-yard as a
maker of such rods (built up), though not of
cane, and there was another maker living in a
West of England town. Ten years or so since
I was shown a built-up rod by the late Mr.
Chevalier, formerly in Bell-yard, which had
been made some sixty years previously.

‘When the first six-strip rod was made I
do not know,” Mr. Sheringham concludes,
‘but I am informed by an old established
tackle maker that Eaton & Deller of London,
E. C., were the beginners on this side, and
that they got the idea from your side.”’

While Mr. Sheringham thinks that Eaton &
Deller were the first to copy the American
hexagonal rods, R. B. Marston thinks differ-
ently. In a personal letter to me he said:

‘In the 70’s, I believe, J. D. Dougall, a
gunmaker of Glasgow, was the first to import
these rods [hexagonal], and then Bowness of
London. The hexagonal American split canes
were a novelty and very expensive; but our

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 135

makers soon began to make them, and now I
doubt if you could tell whether one was made
in England or America—that is, the best
makes.”

With this opinion I cannot agree, although
I will admit that the best makes of British rods
exhibited in this country during the last three
years have been far superior to the same sort
sent over ten or more years ago. In some of
their so-called best rods the joining of the
strips is very bad, while for some reason best
known to themselves, British makers stub-
bornly cling to those abominable contrivances,
the lock-fast ferrules, and refuse to believe—
what was common knowledge on this side a
generation ago—that there is no other ferrule
worth while than our common German silver
suction ferrule. Using brass as they do, it is
not to be wondered at that they cannot make
these “‘ stay put,” and must perforce resort to
locking devices.

Our makers stand on the platform that six
strips of cane cannot be improved in any way
known to science or art. On the other hand,
we find British makers resorting to all sorts of
devices that are alleged to be intended to stiffen
or strengthen their rods. Some put steel cen-
ters in the joints; others wind the joints spirally

136 AMATEUR RODMAKING

with narrow steel ribbons—both methods
clumsy attempts to bolster up an article that
evidently needs heroic treatment.

There are firms in the United States that
make up butts and joints and strips of split
bamboo and ship them in very large lots to
Great Britain. These are made by machine
from all grades of'cane. The query naturally
suggests itself, Do these parts appear later in
the British market as British rods?

At another time Mr. Marston said:

“T think the first Englishman to make the
modern hexagonal American split cane rod
known in England was a man I knew—a good
all-round sportsman, who hunted, shot, and
fished in all parts of the world, well known in
sporting literature as ‘ Ubique,’ which well de-
scribed his roving spirit; his real name was
Parker Gilmore. . . . In 1869, in his inter-
esting book, ‘Gun, Rod, and Saddle,’ he had
referred to American fly rods. On page 251
he says:

““* Next to the cedar rod, but one that will
stand any amount of fair work, is the split
bamboo; this, I think, can be procured even
lighter than the former. There is a firm, the
Messrs. Clark [evidently Clerk] of Maiden

Lane, New York, who make this a specialite.

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 1387

I never had the good fortune to use one, but
have handled them often and listened to the
raptures of experts on their merits; on their
good qualities I believe I can say nothing that
they do not deserve, but their price is neces-
sarily high, from the care with which the cane
has to be selected and put together.’ ”’

The late William Mitchell of New York
City said that the first split bamboo rod that
he ever saw or heard of was made by William
Blacker of London, and to order, for James
Stevens, of Hoboken, N. J. Mr. Mitchell re-
paired this rod in 1852, and made a rod for
its owner in the previous year, keeping a rec-
ord of both dates. In the American Angler
of May 19, 1883, Mr. Mitchell gives these
additional data on the subject:

‘‘ About, 1860 E. A. Green of Newark, N. J.,
made the first complete split bamboo rod. This
date cannot be far astray, for Mr. Green made
—that is, glued up—for the trade a few; and
I find my record, made at the time, to be Sept.
16, 1863. These rods were made in four sec-
tions. . . . In 1863 or 1864 Mr.*Murphy,
an acquaintance of Mr. Green, commenced to
manufacture split bamboo rods for the trade.
These were in four sections.

“The first rods constructed in six sections

1388 AMATEUR RODMAKING

that were put into the market were made by
H. L. Leonard of Bangor, Maine. This was
about 1870, and Dr. A. H. Fowler soon fol-
lowed. Mr. Murphy, however, claims to have
made one some time before.

“The first split bamboo rod that I made
myself was in June, 1869. It was put together
in four sections; made, not of Calcutta bam-
boo, but of Chinese, which is much harder,
homogeneous, and more difficult to obtain
than the former.”

As Mr. Mitchell was, in his time, one of
the really great rodmakers, it is of more than
passing interest to give his opinion as to the
value of the enamel on Calcutta bamboo. Re-
ferring to the burning of the culms, he says
that, as you cannot retain all the enamel on
the rod, it is just as strong if all the enamel
is taken off; in fact, the enamel or silex on the
outside of the bamboo only stiffens but does
not strengthen it.

While all the available testimony seems to
show that three-strip cane rods were made
first in England, the following paragraph is
of particular interest, as it leads us to believe
that four-strip rods were new in England in
the early seventies. It was printed in the Lon-
don Field on May 3, 1873:

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 139

“We have been requested by Mr. Farlow
to inspect and test one of his new quadrangular
glued-up bamboo rods. Those rods are made
of four splints of bamboo, cut into quarters
and laid together very neatly, stuck with some
strong cement, and further secured by being
tied with a half-dozen turns of silk every two
inches; thus the outside of the rod is one hard
surface of the tough, pliant skin of the bam-
boo, the softer and more pithy part being to-
wards the middle.

‘The idea of so constructing rods is not
new, but formerly they were made in triangu-
lar splints instead of quadrangular; whether it
was from this circumstance or from the work-
manship or the cement being less perfect we
cannot determine, but the old rods, though
they possessed great power over a fish, yet cer-
tainly had less spring and less power of re-
covery, and after a good pulling and straining
did not go back to the straight line so well as
these do, and consequently did not cast as good
a line. With one of these little rods, which is
light enough for a lady to use comfortably, we
cast twenty yards of line with ease at the first
essay, with a nasty cross wind blowing; and
that is enough for any single-handed rod to
accomplish.”

140 AMATEUR RODMAKING
It was Dr. James A. Henshall of the United

States Fisheries Bureau who said (in his
‘Book of the Black Bass’’) that “ although
the manufacture—as it is at present—is of
American invention, the idea, or the principle,
is of English origin.”

In September, 1912, Dr. Henshall wrote as
follows in the Fishing Gazette:

“In the first edition of the ‘Book of the
Black Bass’ ©(1881) ... %. .. the date
Phillipe’s first rods was given as 1848, which
date was doubted by W. Mitchell, who be-
lieved it should be 1866, on the authority of
Dr. Wilkinson’s salmon article in Scribner’s
Magazine.* But this assumption was not
true, as Dr. Wilkinson afterward wrote me as
follows: ‘ You are certainly right on the split
bamboo question. Mitchell gives the date of
Murphy’s rods as 1863, and Murphy concedes
priority to Phillipe, and the latter’s date is
1846. At the time of writing I could not fix
Murphy’s exact date. I am now clearly of the
opinion that Phillipe’s son carelessly wrote
1866 in place of 1846, and, in fact, I remem-
ber perfectly well that his figures were pretty
dificult to decipher.’

*Dr. Wilkinson said in Scribner’s Magazine (1876)

that in 1866 a gunsmith of Easton, named Phillips, made
a split cane rod in three sections,

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 141

“In the revised and extended edition of the
‘Book of the Black Bass’ (1904), there is
much additional information on the subject,
and the date of Phillipe’s first rods is estab-
lished as 1845 on the testimony of contempo-
raneous fellow-townsmen, friends, and fishing
companions. From the evidence now in my
possession, Phillipe was undoubtedly, indubi-
tably, and manifestly the first to make a four-
strip or six-strip split bamboo rod. Some of
his earliest rods were made with an ash butt
and the middle and top piece of four-strip split
bamboo, one of which is now in my possession,
and was made some seventy years ago. It is
II feet 4 inches in length, and weighs scant 8
ounces. It is well balanced and as perfect in
action as any modern rod.

“The rods shown at the 1851 Fisheries
Exhibition by English rodmakers were all
three-strip split cane rods, as was also the rod ~
mentioned by Mitchell as made for Mr. James
Stevens by Blacker of London in 1852. The
late Prof. Alfred M. Mayer of the Stevens
Institute of Technology, and editor of the
Century Company’s ‘Sport With Rod and
Gun,’ says of this rod: ‘ This rod is of three |
~ sections, with the enamel on the outside, and
was made in 1852, while Mr. Stevens was in

142 AMATEUR RODMAKING

London. This date has been accurately de-
termined for me by his son, Mr. Frank
Stevens.’

“ At the Chicago World’s Fair, in 1893, I
had on exhibition in my department a number
of Phillipe’s rods of four strips and ‘six strips
of split bamboo, in addition to the one with
the ash butt, just mentioned.

‘“ Phillipe’s son, Solon C. Phillipe, informed
me that his father made four-strip rods as
early as 1845, and that his books show that
the first rod made for sale was in 1848 and
was a four-strip rod in three pieces, all, includ-
ing the butt, of split bamboo. He was also a
gunsmith and a skilled workmen in wood and
metal, and at one time received a silver medal
at the Franklin Institute Fair, Philadelphia,
for a violin, and also made the first ‘ Kinney’
fishhook from a pattern furnished by Phineus
Kinney of Easton, Pa.

“Archery bows and rod tops, and probably
entire rods, were made of hickory or other
hard woods in England long before Phillipe
made his first split bamboo rod; but it is not
at all likely that he knew or even heard of
such rods, living as he did in a small interior
town in Pennsylvania. He at first made rods
only for his own use or for friends, several

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 148

years before he made them for Andrew Clerk
& Co.”

An excellent description of the method of
making split bamboo rods is found in the first
edition of Edward Fitzgibbon’s ‘‘ Handbook
for Angling,’ London, 1847. As to the con-
struction of a salmon rod, he says he obtained
the following from Mr. Little, of 15 Fetter
Lane, rodmaker to His Royal Highness,
Prince Albert:

‘They [the top and middle joints] are to
be made from the stoutest pieces of bamboo
cane, called ‘jungle’ and brought from India.
The pieces should be large and straight, so
that you can rend them well through knots and
all. Each joint should .consist of three rent
pieces, split like the foot of a portable garden
chair, and afterward glued together, not with
knot opposite to knot, or imperfect grain oppo-
site to imperfect grain, but the best part oppo-
site to that which may be knotty or imperfect,
so as to equalize defectiveness and goodness.
The natural badness of the cane you counter-
act by art, and none save a clever workman
can do it.

“The butt of a salmon rod should be made
of plank ash or ground ash, though many good
judges prefer willow or red deal, as being

144 AMATEUR RODMAKING

much lighter, and where lightness is required
the whole rod may be made with cane. The
few makers that have as yet attempted solid
cane or glued-up rods, have generally placed
the bark or hardest part of the cane inside in
glueing, and then reduced the joints down on
the outside to the usual tapering shape. Give
me, however, the workman who glues and
splices with the bark outside, and then gives his
rod a true and correct action, allowing the
three different barks to be seen visibly on the
outside after he has rounded the whole. If
the pieces are skilfully glued together they will
require no reduction except at the corners, to
bring the rod from the three square to the
round shape. I am prepared to prove that
there are no more than three men in London
capable of making, perfectly, rods of solid
cane, rent, glued, and then correctly finished
with the bark lying on the outside.

“In my opinion rods made entirely of lance-
wood,” Mr. Fitzgibbon says, ‘are the worst;
and those made entirely of rent and glued
jungle cane are the best. They must be most
carefully fashioned, and no maker can turn
them out without charging a high price. I am
also of the opinion that they will last longer

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 145

than any other sort of rod, and are far less
liable to warping. I have a high opinion of
their elasticity, and Mr. Bowness, fishing tackle
maker of 12 Bellyard, Temple Bar, showed
me once a trout fly rod made in this, my fa-
vorite way, that had been for many years in
use and was still straight as a wand. I-never
saw a better single-handed rod.”

Fitzgibbon underwent a change of heart
within a year, however, for in the 1848 edition
of his book he says:

“I have changed my opinion with respect to
rods made entirely of rent cane, or any other
wood rent. ‘Their defects will always more
than counterbalance their merits.”

William Blacker said, in his ‘ Fly Making
and Angling,” London, 1855, page 82:

“The rent and glued-up bamboo cane rods,
which I turn out to the greatest perfection, are
very valuable, as they are very light and power-
ful, and throw the line with great facility.”

In the edition of Walton’s ‘‘ Compleat An-
gler,” edited by Edward Jesse and published
in London in 1856 by Henry G. Boehn, the
following paragraph appears:

“The split or glued-up rod is difficult to
make well, and expensive. It is made of three

146 AMATEUR RODMAKING

pieces of split cane, which some say should
have the bark inside, some outside, nicely
rounded.”

In ‘‘ The Practical Angler,” third edition,
Edinburgh, 1857, W. C. Stewart says:

‘“The strength of bamboo lies in the skin,
and in order to turn this to best account, rod-
makers lay two or three strips together so as
to form a complete skin all around. Rods are
sometimes made entirely of bamboo, but they
possess no advantage over those in common
use to compensate for the additional expense,
a twelve-foot rod of this material costing £3
to £4.”

Le Pecheur, the French angling journal,
says:

“Thomas Aldred of London claimed, and
no one has disputed his claim, to have the
honor of inventing the split cane rod in three
sections or segments glued together. As re-
gards the date when the first rod was made
we are ignorant.* It must have been before

* Commenting on this statement, Editor Marston of the
Fishing Gazette says of split cane rods: “They were
made and exhibited at the first great International Fish-
eries Exhibition—that of 1851. They were exhibited by
Aldred of Oxford Street, and thirty years ago and more
I used to know a very clever little old rodmaker, Irvine
by name, who lived in a court off the Pentonville road
near the Angel, Islington, . . . who told us that he
had made the salmon and trout split cane fly-rods for
Aldred for the 1851 Exhibition and long before.

Irvine was proud of saying that he had made the split

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 147

the 1855 Exhibition. There were three fish-
ing tackle exhibitors at the Exhibition, namely,
Ainger and Aldred, J. Bernard, and J. K.
Farlow. ‘The canes were all split in three
sections longitudinally, the whole length of the
joint, and not made up of different pieces in
length equal to the distance between the knots.
This same rod was exhibited by Ainger and
Aldred in New York in 1853.”

While Le Pecheur’s article is interesting, the
paragraph quoted did not originate with it, but
was taken bodily from an article printed in the
American Angler in 1883.

W. D. Coggeshall of the London Fly Fish-
ers’ Club has found this paragraph in ‘‘ The
Young Angler’s Companion,” published by
James March of London, without date, but
which, judging from the costumes of anglers
in the colored prints, Mr. Coggeshall concludes
was issued about 1810 to 1820:

“The Fly rod is generally made of Hic-
eory, with a top of several pieces joined to-

cane salmon rod on which the Lord Lovat of the middle
of last century had, so he told him, killed tons of salmon,
when he had sent it or taken it to him to repair—very
likely at that time, when he was a young man, he worked |
in Aldred’s shop These first English split cane rods cer-
tainly date back to the forties of last century. They
were made of three pieces, glued together sometimes with
the inside outside and sometimes with the outside inside,
and were made more or less cylindrical, showing no
external angles as in the hexagonal rod, which latter was
undoubtedly the improvement of the Americans.”

148 AMATEUR RODMAKING

gether, cut out of the solid part of the large
bamboo; the butt is sometimes made of Ash.”

I quote Mr. Marston again:

““In Blaine’s ‘ Encyclopedia of Rural Sports,’

first edition, 1840, in his description of the
manufacture of fly rods Blaine specially men-
tions split bamboo. In 1836 Ronalds, in the
first edition of his incomparable ‘ Fly Fisher’s
Entomology,’ refers to bamboo top joint for
the fly rod, and I am pretty certain he means
split bamboo, for in an edition twenty years
later he has the same expression, and it is
pretty certain he did not mean the actual
‘whole cane’ natural end of a bamboo.
The fact is, bows for archers were made of
several pieces glued together long before rods
were so made, and it was the custom of fishing
tackle makers to get the bow and arrow makers
to help them in their rodmaking. Chetham of
Smedley, near Manchester, in his capital little
‘Angler’s Vade Mecum,’ published in 1681,
two years before Walton died, describes how
you are to get the arrow maker to saw up and
plane up wood for rod making.”

In a letter to me Dr. Edward Breck, author
of ‘““The Way of the Woods,” throws an
interesting sidelight on split bamboc rods
when he says:

THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROD 149

While in England I met several old an-
glers, some of them in the fishing clubs, who
all asserted that split cane rods had been made
in England years ago, but had not taken very
well and been dropped. Afterward I found
evidence that seemed to confirm this. Hen-
shall says ‘ English origin’ in his ‘ Book of the
Black Bass.’ In England I was told that, as
the old chaps remembered the matter, only the
middle joint, and sometimes the top, were
glued from strips, the butt being ash or green-
heart, but the principle is what counts, of
course. The sections were three or four only,
so the old boys said. Of course such faraway
evidence is merely significant.

“In some of the older, small shops in Lon-
don I saw some split cane rods that certainly
looked as old as the proprietors said they
Wwere—sixty or seventy years—but this again
mmee strictly evidence. . . .° At the first
World’s Exposition in London in 1851 three
firms exhibited three-strip rods, and in 1855
Blacker was making them commonly, gener-
erally of three strips.”

In a later communication Dr. Breck wrote:

“Re Mr. Coggeshall’s claim, that the Eng-
lish were not using split and glued bamboo,
all one has to do is to quote from Fitzgibbon’s

150 AMATEUR RODMAKING
1847 book: ‘They are to be made from the

‘ bamboo cane called “jungle,” and
brought from India. . . . Each piece should
consist of three rent pieces. . . . The butt
of a salmon rod [as distinct from trout rod]
should be made from plank ash. . . . Give
me the workman who glues the splices with the
bark outside.’

‘Now, as to the four- and six-strip rods, I
can only say that I never heard anybody in
England mention, nor read about six-strip rods
in the early days. Of four I think I have, but
will not be sure. ‘he above extract proves
that middle sections, and probably the butts of
trout rods, too, were made of split and glued
bamboo, not the tops alone, as Mr. Cogges-
hall claims.”

CHAPTER XIV
SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING FOR THE BEGINNER

EW amateurs attempt to make split
it bamboo rods because they believe the
work is too complicated. It is at once
a difficult and yet a very simple proposition,
as will appear later on. Good material prop-
erly worked up will give you a first-class rod.
Patience and perseverance are necessary, for
the preparatory work requires great care, and
the least slip of plane or file may ruin an other-
wise perfect strip.

You cannot copy a wood rod in bamboo, for
aside from the fact that they are essentially
different in every way, you can always measure
the exact diameter of your wood rods, but
must measure the “‘flat”’ surfaces of the hex-
agonal bamboo, and these do not give true cali-
bers. Neither can you hope to determine its
calibers in the professional way. Long experi-
ence tells them where a rod needs strength,
and where it should be tapered rapidly. Even
in examining one of their rods you will not

notice the slight variations at certain places,
151

152 AMATEUR RODMAKING

which seem trivial to you, but are the result
of burning much midnight oil and trying, alter-
ing, testing to attain perfection.

In making each of the strips you halve the
actual caliber, but only approximately. Finally,
you must work very slowly. If you finish six
perfect strips of whatever length in a day you
will work faster than you should. Remember
that you cannot use your split bamboo rod as
soon as finished, as you can a wood rod.
Therefore, go slow.

These remarks are not intended to discour-
age you, but rather to make you cautious. The
first time I actually finished six strips of bam-
boo and began to glue them, my hands trem-
bled so that the work was very poorly done;
for I had been told that I could not do it, and
I half expected them to fly apart despite the
excess of glue on the strips, on my hands and
on the floor. As a matter of fact, you will
be delighted—just as I was—and the result
will be much more satisfactory than you antici-
pate.

If you decide to use Calcutta, select several
canes 11%4 inches or more in diameter at the
large end, having in mind the fact that the
burns must not penetrate the enamel. Pound
each piece smartly on the floor and examine

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 153

closely for worm holes, and the dust from
them. Cut the pieces at least a foot longer
than the finished joint is to be. Split them
through the eyes where the leaves grew, for
this part is worthless. An old table knife will
serve the purpose. ‘This will leave about two-
thirds of each cane from which to make selec-
tions. Split up enough to give you six good
pieces, and ‘plane two sides of each strip, leav-
ing it nearly square in section. Keep in mind
the fact that the rind or enamel is not to be
touched with any tool. In squaring up the
strips approximate the taper of each one, but
otherwise do not disturb the pith side.

Examine each strip carefully for worm
holes, and if there is the slightest indication
of these in it, break it up and thus avoid any
possibility of its being used. Worm-eaten bam-
boo is the bane of the rodmaker.

File the knots slightly and lay the strips side
by side, rind up. Now note the burns again,
and if any of them char the enamel, reject that
strip and try another one. Next try the strips
which contain the leaf eyes, bending them in
every direction and noting the arch as well as
their inclination to set. If they will not spring
back straight, particularly when the rind is on
the convex side of the curve, they may not be

154 AMATEUR RODMAKING

properly seasoned. If faults appear in these
rejected strips, examine their mates, which you
propose to use, but do not subject them to
severe strains. The weeding out of poor ma-
terial, if it is done at this stage, may save
time and labor later on. See that the bamboo
has no greenish hue, indicating that it is not
seasoned. It should be yellow and split far
ahead of the knife blade.

If six strips pass inspection, place them so
that no two knots will be opposite or even
near each other, saw off ends and mark all of
the strips, so that they cannot be reversed by
accident. Dipping the butt ends in red ink is
a good plan. Number them from 1 to 6 on
the rind side. They should be some three
inches longer than the finished joint is to be,
so that you will have leeway in trimming the
ends.

Sharpen your plane on an oilstone until its
edge is very keen. Bamboo requires the ut-
most care in planing, and a dull tool must not
be used on it. Set the plane very fine and
test it on a rejected strip of cane. It is well,
too, to put an old glove on your left hand
while you hold the cane in place in planing
and filing it. A slip may result disastrously,
for the rough edge of a triangular strip of
cane will make a jagged wound.

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 155

If your material is Tonkin cane, practically
the same rules laid down for Calcutta may be
applied to it, though Tonkin generally seems to
be free from worm holes.

You will know how to bevel two sides of each
one of your strips, to make its section tri-
angular, with the apex exactly opposite the
center of the enamel base, and the angle formed
by the two sides to be 60 degrees, as illustrated
in Fig. 50, p. 162.

There are “ forty-’leven’’ ways to do the
rough beveling, and as many more methods
employed in finishing the strips. You can be-
gin to bevel the strips in the grooved edge of a
tongued-and-grooved board. Another way is
to nail a strip of wood near the edge of your
work bench, forming a right-angled rabbet.
Some rodmakers use a hardwood block with
rabbets cut in two corners. Still another plan
is to prepare two blocks like those illustrated

a a

SATA ARNES PUBS BTS

a k

Figure 47.
Blocks for Beveling Rod Sections.

in Fig. 47, with the angle of the groove 60
degrees.

156 AMATEUR RODMAKING

I like the grooved board referred to in the
chapter on ‘‘One-Piece Bait-Casting Rods.”
You can procure a piece about four feet long
and keep it handy. It is serviceable for round-
ing wood rods, for squaring bamboo sstrips,
which lie well in the groove; and for the pre-
liminary beveling of these strips. This piece
of board, and the hardwood block illustrated

Figure 48.
Grooved Board for Cutting Bevels.
in Fig. 48, will answer all your requirements
in split cane work.

Some amateurs, however, like to use blocks
similar to those illustrated in Fig. 47. To
make these, procure two pieces of seasoned
hardwood. Cherry, birch or maple will be
better than oak; beech will answer. Make the
blocks 4 feet long, 2 inches wide, and 1%

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 157

inches thick. Plane off the corners as indicated
by the dotted lines in Fig. 47. Plane very
carefully, a little at a time, then fasten the
two blocks temporarily in the vise while you
test the groove with the handy little gauge

Fig. 49.—Steel Angle Gauge.

illustrated in Fig. 49. This is a center gauge
costing 25 cents at hardware shops, and it not
only has three 60-degree notches, but scales
graduated in 14ths, 20ths, 24ths, and 32ds of
an inch. As it is tempered steel, you can true
up the grovve with it and with a three-cornered
file from which the handle has been removed.
Both the gauge and the file have angles of 60
degrees. The depth of the groove does not so
much matter as its shape, for on this depends
the character of your finished strips.

When satisfied that one of the grooves is
correct, fasten the two blocks together with at
least four screws, reverse and true up the other
groove.

We will assume, for the sake of brevity and

158 AMATEUR RODMAKING

simplicity, that your first groove is to be for
the rough beveling of the strips of the butt
joint of a two-piece rod, whose diameter at
the large end is to be 15-32 of an inch, and
at the small end 9-32. We will also assume
that the depth of the groove is uniformly 4
inch from end to end. Secure the block against
shifting and plane its face until the depth of
the groove at one end is 15-64 and at the
other 9-64 inch. To be certain there are no
uneven places, test with a straight edge, both
lengthwise and across the block, then mark its
entire face with a pencil.

The depth of the second groove will range
from 9-64 to 3-64, assuming that the tip end
of your rod is to be 3-32 inch when finished.

Now place a squared strip of cane in the
large groove of your block, with the rind at
one side, and take off a very fine shaving with
your plane. Turn the strip and plane the
other side, being careful to go over the knots
with a shearing motion, else the plane will
‘bite’ into the knots. See that you do not
cut into the face of the block, which you
marked with pencil for this purpose.

By this time your strip will be roughly tri-
angular, but the edges should not be sharp.
Take up another strip and bevel it in the

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 159

same fashion and so on until the six strips
are ready for the finer work.

Turn the block over and bevel the strips
for the tips in the shallow groove, then lay the
block aside. Some amateurs finish their strips
in grooves of this sort, but it is so difficult to
make a perfect groove of this length, and to
prevent the strip from rolling, that the follow-
ing method is the better one for begin-
ners:

For this purpose procure a block of hard
maple, birch or beech, two inches thick, 2%4
inches wide and 6 inches long. Make it fast
in the vise and with a pencil draw four par-
allel lines from end to end. With a saw cut
shallow grooves on these marks. Take up
your three-cornered file and cut the first groove.
Its bottom will be slightly round, as the edge
of the file is rather blunt, but you can true
up the groove with the point of jour steel
gauge (Fig. 49). Cut the first groove 15-64,
the second 13-64, the third 11-64, and the
fourth 9-64 inch deep. In.this work the ut-
most care must be exercised to keep the top
side of the file level with the surface of the
block, to keep the ‘angles of the groove per-
fect.

Turn the block over, draw four or five lines

160 AMATEUR RODMAKING

as before, groove them with the saw, and file
the grooves. (See Fig. 48.) Make the first
one % inch deep, the second 7-64, the third
3-32, the fourth 5-64, and the last one 1-16.
inch deep. These are for your tips, which re-
quire the greatest care; therefore the grooves
may be safely made uniform in depth and you
ean shift steadily to a smaller groove as you
file from the large to the small end. Cover
both faces of the block with pencil marks, to
assist you in keeping the file out of contact
with the block.

Fastening this block in the vise with the
larger set of grooves up, begin with one of
the strips for the butt of your rod. Lay it in
the largest groove with the enamel at one side,
and commencing at the butt end work your flat
file forward and back, being careful to hold it
parallel with the fack of the block. Turn the
strip often, in order that you may be sure to
keep the angles true, and go from groove to
groove until the strip is reduced evenly
throughout its length, beginning again in the
largest groove and continuing as before, until
the strip will lie in the groove flush with the
surface of the block, no matter which side is
uppermost, Do not attempt to file across the
grain of your strip, as it will sliver if you do.

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 161

The plane cannot with safety be used in finish-
ing strips in the short block. The proper tool
for this is the flat file.

Test all angles of the strip frequently with
the little steel gauge, going from end to end,
filing, testing, sighting along the strip, blow-
ing the dust out of each groove before laying
the strip in it.

Proceed in like fashion with the other strips,
each one of which must be an equilateral tri-
angle in section; that is, excepting the con-
vexity of the rind side. In other words, the
apex of the triangle must be exactly opposite
the center of the enamel base, as in Fig. 50,
and the angle formed by the two pith sides
60 degrees. Each of the edges must be sharp,
and in order to make them so, be careful that
you do not raise a sliver at the. enamel edges,
and in removing it destroy the perfection of
the glue joint.

Turning the grooved block over, take up
your strips for the tips. Even greater care
is necessary with them, for they run so small
at the tip end that the least error will ruin
one. Use the gauge frequently. Do not be
satisfied with a fair strip; make it perfect.
Keep in mind the fact that you cannot use the
rod for several months, anyway, and that a

162 AMATEUR RODMAKING

day more or less in finishing strips will not
matter.

I have said split cane rodmaking is both dif-
ficult and simple. If you will be careful and
patient, the difficulties will be overcome.

ase ee -
ee 3
Smee ee eee ee

Figure 51. Figure 52.
Single Strip Section, Double Strip Unfinished, znd Double
Strip Finished Section.
Could anything be more simple than this little
block of hardwood, which you can carry in
your pocket, and which is easily made, yet is
in fact a mold for all the strips of your rod?
Despite all the advances in toolmaking and in
labor-saving devices, some of the most expert
rodmakers use this little hand-made block of
wood.

By the time you have finished the six strips
for the tip of your rod, you will have acquired
great respect for the six-inch block. Ina block
the full length of a strip the tendency of the
latter to roll is very aggravating, but in the
short block this is greatly reduced, although
not entirely overcome, it being difficult to hold
even this short length against rolling when the
enamel side is convex.

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 163

It must be understood that one set of
grooves will serve for a long one-piece rod,
for one part of a two-piece rod, or for one
part of a three-piece rod, provided their num-
ber and depth are properly regulated. The
angle for all is the same, and the notches in
your steel angle gauge will be correct for test-
ing all strips.

There are many other methods employed
in beveling and tapering strips, as I said be-
fore, but the simplest one is given here, for
if the beginner is confronted with a compli-
cated system involving planes fitted with bevel
blocks, adjustable ‘‘shooting boards,” taper
gauges and protractors, he cannot be blamed
for shying from this interesting branch of rod-
making.

When your strips are finished, their glassy
surfaces may seem to be poor holding ground
for glue, and you may be tempted to roughen
them. This is a mistake. To satisfy your-
self, wet one of the surfaces slightly, and after
it has dried pass your finger over it. You will
find the grain raised enough to prove that this
will be taken care of by the hot glue.

Fit a set of six strips together and wind
them spirally with thread, so that they will
all be in perfect contact. Examine all parts

164 AMATEUR RODMAKING

carefully and see that the pith sides come to-
gether throughout, and that no strip sinks
below its proper plane, as it will do if its
taper is not the same as that of the other
strips. In this case a new strip must be made
to replace it. Cheap rods are often corrected
for this fault by winding a narrow piece of
paper spirally around the imperfect place in
the strip, then removing the paper from the
surface after gluing, but this is not to be rec-
ommended, as you would regret it later on,
perhaps by the seam opening. Gauge care-
fully the taper of the assembled strips and
mark all places that need further reducing.

In a preceding chapter I said that double
enamel rods are excellent if carefully made.
In working thin-walled cane this system has
some points of excellence, and the amateur
who is skilled with the plane and the file can
work it nicely, especially for butts and middle
joints.

Square up the rough stock and match two
strips with reference to the knots. Decide
which is to be the surface strip and plane it
to rectangular section, with the rind on the
bottom. Do not touch the rind. Now plane
the second or inner strip to match, but file off
just enough of the rind in the center to make

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 165

a glue joint, it being remembered that the
convex rind of the inner strip cannot other-
wise be glued to the pith side of the outer
strip. Glue the strips together, wind with
cord, place under a weight or clamp together
until dry. In section your double enamel strip
will be like Fig. 51, while Fig. 52 shows the
sectional view of a finished strip. It is best
to make the outer strip thinner than the inner
one, as in this way the maximum of rind is
obtained.

It must be understood that in filing the rind
of the inner strip, only a very small portion of
its center is to be removed. This will affect
the strip very little when the two are glued
together.

It is not advisable for the ae to try
this method on tips until he has mastered the
less complicated hexagonal work, if at all.

When your assembled strips are ready for
gluing, warm them while heating the glue, and
for each set of strips have ready a piece of
strong thread. You can glue the strips with
another person’s assistance. To do this, glue
a few inches at a time, your assistant keeping
them separated for the purpose. Wind them
spirally, glue a few more inches, wind again,
and so on until finished, then wind back to

166 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the place of beginning. Whatever the method,
pass the strips over a flame before pressing
them into contact, in order to be sure the glue
is hot, and after the strips have been wound
in one direction they can be again passed over
a flame, then the reverse winding completed.
Use the best French glue, applying it with a
flat brush while very hot. Before using fresh
glue soak it over night in cold water. It
should be quite thin.

Now sight along each strip alternately and
correct the natural tendency to twist spirally.
Rolling in the hands while gluing will partially
correct this. Fasten the glued stock on a
board or a rod by winding loosely around both,
to prevent warping.

Glued joints should be left in a warm room
until thoroughly dry. A month is not too
long, and some of the best rodmakers dislike
to let rods go out of their shops if the stock
has had less than four months to dry and
harden. As a rule they glue their stock in
the autumn and make up rods from it the fol-
lowing spring, these rods being kept out of
the anglers’ hands for six months at least.
Tournament rods should season even longer,
for they are put to the severest tests.

Some of the most practical suggestions that

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 167

have been made to me are those for which I
am indebted to P. S. Redfield of Providence,
R. I., a veteran angler. I take pleasure in
recommending all that he says:

“Tf you will pardon me, I would like to
make a simple suggestion as regards gluing
split bamboo for rods. As you know, all labor
is lost and bitter disappointment follows if the
gluing prove defective. After various failures
in gluing bamboo strips together, it occurred
to me to devise some simple but sure method
of gluing, and the following glue-pot was in-
vented: Get a piece of common speaking tube,
such as were formerly used in houses to call
the kitchen girl to the chambers or dining
room. One inch in diameter is sufficient and
214 feet long. On one end solder a piece of
brass or copper three inches square, for 4;
base, and it is ready for the thin, hot glue
that has been freshly prepared in a sauce-pan
set in another dish of boiling water. The glue
should thus be well cooked—say an hour—
stirring frequently with a thin wood paddle.

“Enough glue should be thus prepared to
about fill the tube. Now set the thing in a tea-
kettle of boiling water and the glue will keep
hot—a very important thing for success—till
you glue all your pieces. When through using,

168 AMATEUR RODMAKING

and while the glue is hot, empty the tube and
rinse well in hot water till perfectly clean of
glue, dry, and hang bottom up for further use.

“Too much care cannot be taken to prevent
rusting this tube—as rust and dirt will spoil
glue—and so much depends on the gluing.

‘‘T need not tell how to use this glue-pot, as
you have already given directions to have the
pieces for. each joint wound spirally with
coarse thread. It will be well to unwind a
few inches at a time, commencing at the small
end. As the piece is unwound, and pushed
down in the glue, it will act like an egg-beater,
and consequently glue all surfaces. When half
of a piece has been thus unwound and whipped
in the glue, wind the thread back, pressing the
strips together and the glue out; then unwind
the other end to a little beyond where the glue
reached before, thus surely gluing every part;
then rewind and have a rag handy in a dish
of hot water to gently wipe most of the glue
from the outside of the joint. Do not wipe
too clean, for if a little glue is left on the
thread, all the better, and no trouble will be
found in taking off the winding.”

I have found that a piece of one-inch gal-
vanized iron pipe makes an excellent glue-tank.
The plumber will supply it. Have him put a

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 169

screw-cap on the bottom end. Being thicker
than tin, it retains the heat longer.

Remember that no matter how perfect your
glue joints are, if your gluing is badly done,
your work will be wasted. It is folly to at-
tempt to glue strips in pairs, then glue and
assemble the three pairs. As your object is to
get all the glue possible into your Joint, then
get all of this out that can be excluded by
winding tightly with cord, the best way is to
glue and wind, glue and wind, until you finish
the joint, always heating the applied glue be-
fore winding. Thick glue simply cannot be
used. I found this the most difficult part of
split cane rodmaking—at first—but I prac-
ticed on short pieces until I mastered the work,
and in this way learned how to properly glue
the longest strips. Tips are the most difficult
to glue, as they are so small that it is at first
hard to prevent twisting them in gluing. If
this occurs, however, or if the joint be crooked,
correct it, after the windings have been re-
moved, by heating and twisting or bending
until the joint is straight.

When the stock is dry the double spiral
windings are taken off and the surplus glue
removed, then the bamboo is rubbed very
lightly with the finest sandpaper and the cor-

170 AMATEUR RODMAKING

ners rounded slightly. It is then ready for
handgrasp and ferrules. I prefer to rub
lightly with varnish and let this dry before
winding. Split or serrated ferrules should be
used on bamboo rods in preference to the ordi-
nary capped ferrules, and in fitting these only
the corners of the bamboo should be removed.

To recapitulate: In order to lead from step
to step without a break, I have tried to de-
scribe how the butt and tips of a two-piece rod
may be made. It naturally follows that a
three-piece or a one-piece rod is made in the
same fashion, the depth of the grooves in
your little block varying to accord with the
caliber of the rod-to-be.

I would, however, advise you to make sey-
eral experimental sections of cane before at-
tempting full length strips; in other words, to
practice with short pieces until you master first
principles.

In order to do this, make your six-inch block
(Fig. 48) first of all. Take some rejected
strips a foot or two in length and bevel and
finish them with great care, having in mind a
certain taper and following this religiously. It
is surprising how quickly this will teach you the
niceties of the system. The short pieces will
be handy to fit and glue together, and later

i at

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 171

on you can saw them in two and inspect their
ends to see just how your work turns out.
You can also determine which glue seems best.
_ Go even further and keep these sample pieces,
to see how much you have improved in your
work from time to time.

CHAPTER XV

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING FOR ADVANCED
WORKERS

HY is it that so many anglers go in
for tournament casting? Has the
answer ever occurred to you ? Be-

cause in that pastime one learns so much more
concerning rods and reels and lines than it is
possible to acquire on the stream. On the
platform many theories are tested, and mental
notes made, for use in the little workshop at
home.

Half the fun—yes, more than half—is had
in the cold season, when there is neither fishing
nor casting practice, in repairing, altering, or
making rods to be used in the spring and
summer. Rodmaking is a pastime in itself.
There is no closed season; in fact, the rainy
days, the stormy nights, the winter holidays,
are the times to practice it. Try it, you who
think you cannot make a rod. As for a shop,
any vacant room, or a corner in a basement,
will serve, while as for tools, only a few sim-

ple and inexpensive ones are needed.
174

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 173

Make solid wood rods, if you prefer, for a
Seateer, tO get your hand in,’ but do not
fail to attempt the making of at least one split
bamboo rod.

This work is really not so difficult as it may
seem. Careful, patient attention to details
and sharp tools are the principal items to be
looked after. And the work is so fascinating
that, after you have had a little practice, you
will grow as enthusiastic over it as the fly- and
bait-casters do over their practice on the plat-
form.

Much has been said and written in praise of
hand-made cane rods and in condemnation of
machine-made rods. In this instance, by
““machine-made rods”’ I do not include the
cheap and nasty stuff that is turned out from
the sausage mills.

But let a man who is a past master at hand
work operate a machine that will do the taper-
ing and beveling of the selected strips better
than he can ever do with plane and file, and
it stands to reason that the strips turned out
will be perfect. All of the other details being
cared for in the most painstaking manner, it
must be conceded that he can finish the strips
better by the use of a finely adjusted machine
than it is possible for him to do with hand
tools. The shaping of the strips being cared

174 AMATEUR RODMAKING

for in this way, it remains for him to see that
the material is of the best, that the roughing
out be well done, that there be perfect match-
ing, and that the glueing, straightening, and
mounting be up to standard.

The equipment for machining strips may be
very simple. Take a common lathe, and pro-
cure two thin milling cutters which, when
fitted together on an arbor, will cut a strip at
the proper angle—6o degrees. Make fast to
the bed-plate of the lathe a cross-piece of suit-
able material, rabbeted or grooved to take a
slide. This slide may be hand, screw, or rack-
and-pinion operated in several ways, each effec-
tive and simple. To it the prepared strips of
cane may be attached, by temporary glueing
or otherwise. Two things then remain: (1)
To work the slide carrying the cane strip
through the revolving cutters; and (2) to
raise or depress one end of the slide as it
passes under the cutters, so that the strip
may be correctly tapered.

Any mechanic may with a little practice
make perfect strips in this or a similar fash-
ion, working to thousandths instead of to sixty-
fourths of an inch. And, after all, is it any
the less a hand-made rod because he cut the
strips with a heavy and accurate machine and

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 175

not with a wobbling hand plane or file? If
you make up a set of joints for a rod, work-
ing entirely with hand tools, would you refuse
to prepare the ends for the ferrules on a fine
lathe, on the ground that that was machine
work, and whittle the ends to fit instead?

I am merely stating a case. Think it over.
If you possess the skill and the equipment, try
it. Otherwise, let us see what may be done
with an improved plane. A great deal of
very satisfactory work, I assure you; work
that is absorbing, interesting to a degree, and
in which you will find recreation and eae?
from worry and care.

In Chapter XIV I favored the short,
grooved block and the filing of the strips.
My reasons for so doing was to give novices
a very simple method. I believed then, and
still believe, that a full length groove is better,
but it is not every beginner that is handy
enough with even simple tools to work in this
manner. Making one groove for the strips
for each rod joint requires time and care and
should be considered a very important part
of the work.

For this purpose I procured two blocks of
hard maple from a mill man who assured me »
that the plank from which he cut them had been

176 AMATEUR RODMAKING

‘kicking about the shop” for years, and was,
therefore, well seasoned. One was made a
trifle over 5 feet long and the other about 3%
feet. The faces of each block are all 2%
inches wide and absolutely true, as they were
machine sawed and planed. This gives spaces
for four grooves, one on each face.

Taking the shorter block, with a pencil I
drew a line the full length of each face, each
line in the exact center. Then with a carpen-
ter’s gauge, passed back and forth a number
of times, a clean furrow was cut. Then I pro-
cured a thin wood rabbet plane which had a
cutter half an inch wide. This iron I ground
down on each side on the emery wheel until it
fitted exactly in the center gauge (60 degrees).
Of course the bottom of the plane was planed
off to the same angle.

Great care is at first necessary in deepening
the original furrow formed with the marking
gauge, for the narrow plane is likely to follow
the inequalities of the grain of the wood in-
stead of sticking to its proper groove. But
after a fair start has been made, this difficulty
is eliminated.

We will assume that the first groove is to
be made % inch in depth at one end, and %
inch at the other. Therefore, mark % at the

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 177

deep end, and % at the shallow end, and with
a try-square and pencil mark entirely across
the block at 6-inch intervals, putting the dis-
tances of each from the butt on one side of
the groove, and the proper finished depth on
the other. Your reference figures will in this
way always be before you as you work. If
your block be three feet long, it will be ees
as shown in Fig. 53.

Fig. 53—Maple Block with Grooves Cut on Three
Faces. (The caliber marks are merely fe ones
to illustrate the idea.)

Now for a depth and taper gauge. The
only reliable one for this purpose that I have
ever seen was shown me by its inventor, E.
R. Letterman, of the Chicago Fly-Casting
Club. Mr. Letterman gave me permission to
make one like his and to describe it for the
benefit of fellow anglers. In making mine
(Fig. 54) I departed from his model only in
attaching the set-screw. For the base I used
a piece of 1-16 inch hard brass (A). To this
were riveted two strips of brass (CC) of the
same thickness as the steel center gauge (B).
The gauge may be had at any hardware shop

178 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Fig. 54——Depth and Taper Gauge.

for twenty-five cents. The cross-plate (D)
may be of any convenient thickness. In its
center drill a hole (E) and thread this to take
the set-screw (F). The screw may also be
had at hardware shops.

The width of the device from C to C must
correspond with that of the center gauge,
which, when in place, may be pushed up or
down without side play. Push the center
gauge under the cross-plate and turn down the
set-screw when the point of the gauge is ex-
actly flush with the proper end of plate A.
Then mark across the strip C at G and exactly
in line with one of the quarter-inch marks on
the gauge. It will readily be seen that when
the mark G is opposite the next quarter-inch
line on the gauge, the point of gauge will pro-
trude just % inch. If the lower end of plate

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 179

is exactly at right angles with center of gauge,
the device may also be used for clearing the
groove in your block from dust, and in true-
ing it up while you are making it as well. I
made my gauge considerably wider than Mr.
Letterman’s, so that it is of convenient form
to hold in both hands while it is used as a
groove scraper, and its wider bottom makes it
more accurate in trueing the grooves.

The small end of groove is to be % inch
@eep. - Fherefore, do not plane, that end
deeper than 5-64 inch, but plane from the
24-inch mark to the large end, then from the
12-inch mark to the large end, and so on, gaug-
ing frequently. When the groove is approxi-
mately 3-64 inch shallower throughout than it
must be when finished, lay aside the plane and
thereafter use the scraper only. Set it at 7-64
and scrape forward and back until that depth
at the small end of the groove is attained.
Then scrape from the 30-inch station toward
the large end, and so on, gauging often, until
the depth at each station is 1-64 inch less than
it should be. When satisfied that the groove
is true throughout, the final scraping from sta-
tion to station, with. a change in the gauge for
each, will result in a groove that is only a trifle
less accurate than one made on a machine.

180 AMATEUR RODMAKING

If this groove is for the strips of the butt
joint of your rod, make another one for the
middle joint, and a third for the tip, all start-
ing from the same end of your block, and each
one properly marked at each 6-inch station.
Just beside the groove bore a hole through the
butt of the block, and another one at right
angles to the first one. The holes should be
of a size to fit snugly over a short steel pin to
be driven in your work-bench. This will steady
the block while you are planing strips.

Finally, varnish all faces of the block, but
not the grooves. ‘This will preserve the pen-
cil marks, so that it will not be necessary to
renew them frequently, and will also prevent
the plane from coming into contact with the
hardwood block. After the varnish has dried,
clear out the grooves with the gauge, to be sure
that no varnish got into them. Any varnish
that happens to be at hand will do for the
block, and shellac will answer, though it is not
very durable for the purpose.

It is some trouble to make a perfect form
for the three joints of a rod, but after you
have finished your first block and find it well
made, you need not be ashamed to show it
to your best friend. But there is only one
way to go about the work: When you have

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 181

decided just what the calibers of your rod
are to be, mark off three sides of a good block
of wood, set down the calibers thereon, and
then begin work on the grooves some day when
you have nothing else on hand. Take it easy,
go slowly, and call it a good day’s work when
the block is ready for the cane.

Take another full day for splitting and
roughing out the strips for your rod. Try to
believe that all you intend to do is to work
out a sufficient number of rough strips, each
one as perfect as possible, match joints and
lay aside until another year each set of six.
Of course you will not do this, but at any rate
go very slowly, for the careful selection and
matching of strips are very important steps.

Tonkin cane is the only material worth con-
sidering in the making of a first-class rod.
The day of the Calcutta bamboo rod has
passed, and it is best to forget that your grand-
father ever made a good rod of that material.
I doubt if any other amateur rodmaker has
poked into more queer corners and out-of-the
way places in New York City and its environs
in search of Calcutta bamboo than I have, and ©
for all the canes that I bought, carried home,
and finally threw away I would not give one
red stamp to-day. It would be a shameful

182 AMATEUR RODMAKING

waste of two perfectly good cents. Tonkin is
used by all first-class rodmakers, and al-
though some of them may sigh for the good
old days of the Calcutta rod, in the final analy-
sis they will admit—albeit modestly—that they
are making mighty good rods to-day. The
truth is that their best rods are better by far
than any that grandpa ever made of any ma-
terial. What more, then, does any amateur
rodmaker want?

Tonkin cane comes to our markets in bun-
dles of two sizes. The longer canes are six
feet or a trifle more in length, and the average
diameter is about 134 inches. The canes in
the shorter bundles are about 3% feet long,
and their diameter is about 1 inch. ‘These are
used for tips or are bored and capped for tip
tubes.

From the six-foot canes select at least three,
being particular to pick those in which the dis-
tance between knots varies. As a rule the dis-
tance between knots is quite uniform, but I
have seen canes which had only three knots.
In some the knots are very close together near
the root, and far apart at the top end. Of
course, the shorter the joints of your rod are
to be, the more latitude will you have in match-
ing up the strips, but if you are planning to

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 183

make a 514-foot bait-casting tip, the selection
of canes will be a more important matter.

The darker the enamel of the canes, the
better are they likely to be. Avoid all that
are green, grayish-green or pale yellow. Sea-
soned canes are reddish-yellow, orange, or
straw color, with no green tone whatever.
When tapped with a stick they give out a good
strong round ring, somewhat like a metal tube,
whereas the green canes give forth a dull, flat
sound.

Do not discard a cane merely because it is
cracked, but if it has been crushed, avoid it.
Grayish stains may indicate mildew, possibly
from the hold of some leaky old ship, but
irregular brown stains are sought by some
makers, and are found on the strips of nearly
all the best rods. This, I fear, is but a lame
description, for I am sure that I can pick out
good canes better than I can describe just how
good canes should look. It is a good deal like
picking out a ripe watermelon. Any country
boy can do this instinctively, and yet he will
find it difficult to explain just how he does it.

One thing more: You may not agree with
me as to the color of seasoned and green canes
because you have seen rods made up from
canes showing decided greenish hues. This is

184 AMATEUR RODMAKING

true, but that is not proof that the material
used had been seasoned. I have also heard
people complain that, whereas almost any 99-
cent rod was made from “nice, clear, white
cane,” every high-priced rod was stained and
dark and dingy!

In splitting the canes use the strongest knife
you possess. ‘here is nothing better than a
' hunting knife with a good thick-backed blade.
Lay it across the end of the cane, so that you
can split it in half, and drive the blade home
with a wood mallet or billet, continuing until
the other end is reached. Split all your canes
in half before going further, then place each
cane on your bench, with one end against some-
thing solid, and with a carpenter’s gouge at-
tack the knots inside the halves. A large
gouge is better than a narrow one, as its
curved blade will fit the inside of the cane
better than a small tool. These knots are very
tenacious, and it may be necessary to tap the
gouge lightly with the mallet. Cut them out
as smoothly as possible, but without cutting
into the soft side of the cane. There are two
good reasons for doing this at the time: it will
be easier to go further with the splitting, and
the rived strips will not need so much ranges
ing on that side.

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 185

Next file all the knots on the outside of the
canes, smoothing them down even with the
enamel. You will find a cane or part of a cane
now and then in which the wood curves down
from the knot, so that it is difficult to obtain
anything like a plane surface at that point.
Mark such points with a blue pencil, and dis-
card the strips carrying them after splitting.
Such strips may be straightened by heating
over an alcohol lamp and bending or clamping
in a vise, but they are better out of the way.

On the inside of each half cane place such
marks as will show on every strip taken from
it, so that in matching strips you can surely
identify each one as coming from a certain
cane.

It is generally possible to split each half-
cane into three strips, each of good width, but
if the cane splits off to one side, as sometimes
happens, do not attempt to force matters, but
let it go at that, for it is always better to plane
a thick piece down to size than to try to split
to that size.

With canes that are well seasoned it is only
necessary to start the knife with a smart blow,
then push it down, the cane opening nicely far
ahead of the blade and in a fairly straight line.
But if it splits badly, going off at a tangent

186 AMATEUR RODMAKING

or slivering, it is just as well to discard that
piece for something more promising. Any-
way, this is a case of selection, and not of
making the available material serve the pur-
pose. In making the butt of a salmon rod I
split twenty-three pieces of good cane, but
finally discarded every one of them as not
quite up to standard, and finally split out
twelve more strips of thinner material and
after working them to shape, glued them in
pairs and made the joint double enamel.

Thus far we have accomplished something,
but have really not yet started to work, for
we have no plane to work with. Any old
plane will do? Not at all. ‘There is only one
type that is worth using, and it is worthless as
it comes from the hardware shop, where the
price is fifty cents for the plane, and about
half as much more for an extra iron, which
will come in very handy.

In 1889 Norman E. Spaulding contributed
a very workmanlike article on rodmaking to
the American Angler. In it he referred to
the method of altering the plane iron to
which I refer below. This impressed me, but
it was not until many years afterward that I
began to count Mr. Spaulding as one of my
friends. Since then he has given me many

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 187

useful hints on rodmaking. He impressed
me with the fact that the long, thin cutting iron
of the small plane was almost useless for cut-
ting Tonkin cane, but with the alterations he
advocated the cutter became a sharp scraper
rather than a plane, and it did not take me
very long to find that his method was better
than any other one that I had ever tried.

Fig. 55.—Dotted Line Shows Angle for Regrinding
Plane Iron.

Purchase a Stanley No. 220 plane with
extra iron. This is an adjustable iron block
plane 7% inches in length, and the width of
the iron is 134 inches. If you cannot grind
the two irons properly, take them to a grinder
and tell him what is wanted. In Fig. 55 the
shape of the cutting edge of the iron as it
comes from the shop is given, while the dotted
line shows the edge as it must be after grind-
ing. ‘The cutting face of the iron thus meets
the bamboo at an angle of about 70 degrees—
nearly a right angle—and becomes in effect a
sharp scraper which will not splinter the cane
nor bite into knots. Tonkin cane being very
hard, however, it will be necessary to have

188 AMATEUR RODMAKING

your oilstone handy, and hone the cutters fre-
quently, for with this blunt edge a very sharp
iron is a necessity as well as a joy.

This brings us to the rough work on the
strips. As an aid I have found that a piece
of pine board with a grooved edge is as good
as anything. Fasten it in your vise and hold
the strips in the groove while planing them.
It is a good plan to plané the sides only at
first, thus leaving the strips rectangular in sec-
tion, and tapering slightly.

Select the best six strips for the purpose,
and match them. Lay them all enamel up on
the bench, first having marked on its top two
lines, as far apart as the length of your rod
joints when finished. Place the first strip over
these marks so that the fewest possible num-
ber of knots will be between them. Lay the
second strip alongside of the first one, ‘and
shift it so that its knots will not come very
close to those on the first strip. By shifting
the rest of the strips many times, or trying
still others instead of some at first selected,
you will eventually be able to match up six
strips for the butt joint, with no two knots
directly opposite each other. Mark across all
of them in two places, and saw them, being
careful that their length exceeds by at least

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 189

two inches the finished length of joint. Put
identification marks on each strip, and lay them
all aside.

Select another set of strips for the middle
joint of your rod, and two more sets for the
tips—that is, if you intend to make a spare
one. It is sometimes well, however, to leave
the tips until the last, for it is more than prob-
able that you will reject some strips after they
are partly finished, as not quite up to standard
for butt or joint, and if these are not defec-
tive in any way they may be worked over _
tips.

In all of this work of selection it is a good
aoe not to pick out for any one joint more
than two strips from each cane split up, and
one would be even better. From several
good canes it is likely you will get a better
set than if they were all taken from one or
two. If two strips from the same cane are
put in a joint, see that they do not lie on dia-
metrically opposite sides, as the strips of a
rod work in pairs, and each pair should con-
sist of two perfect strips.

Mr. Letterman prepares the rectangular
strips for the final beveling by drawing them
through the large V in his center gauge.
These gauges are highly tempered, and the

1909 AMATEUR RODMAKING

edges will cut like a sharp scraper. He fas-
tens the gauge in a vise, bandages the thumb
and fore finger of the left hand, to prevent
cutting them on the gauge or the sharp edges
of the cane, then draws the strips through the
gauge. The strip is inclined slightly, to pre-
sent a better cutting edge, and considerable
pressure is exerted by thumb and finger. I
have tried this plan with satisfaction and can
recommend it.

If I were beginning all over again, I would
use nothing in rod—and other—work but a
micrometer caliper; but while I use one a
great deal, in rodmaking I have been accus-
tomed to using a gauge marked in 64ths of an
inch, and to change would necessitate the cor-
recting of a great many charts and working
plans. There is one thing that will help ma-
terially, and that is to ignore all coarser desig-
nations under one inch and use 64ths alone.
By this I mean to designate % as 8-64, and
so on, the idea being to eliminate, as far as
possible, the necessity for mental calculations
of any kind while you are working. You may
consider this point trivial, but let someone call
you to lunch while you are on a delicate piece
of work, and unconsciously you begin to rush
things in order to reach a satisfactory stop-

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 191

ping place—and the result very often is a slip
or something that will mar your work. That
is one reason why the micrometer is so satis-
factory; the marks are all in thousandths.
At first you will not be expert enough to
attempt to bevel and taper a strip held in the
grooved board mentioned, although you can
readily reduce each strip to satisfactory shape
in this way and by drawing through the cen-
ter gauge. From this stage on, then, consult
your micrometer or gauge often, noting at the
same time the readings on your grooved block.
In using the block plane with scraper edge
you can plane a strip from either end without
the slightest fear of cutting into grain or knot.
Therefore plane toward the butt end of your
strips until they are of good form and size,
then reverse them and holding the strip in the
groove with left thumb behind the plane, work
toward the other end, first on one side, then on
the other, always being careful to see that the
enamel face of strip lies true in the groove.
And as the edges of Tonkin are very sharp,
either bandage the left thumb or provide it
with the thumb of an old glove, and in either
case dip the member in powdered rosin fre-
quently. Should you sustain a bad cut—and
it is almost impossible to avoid this at first—

192 AMATEUR RODMAKING

dip the injured finger at once into shellac, then
into sawdust. By this treatment bleeding will
be checked, and inflammation will not set in,
to spoil your work for a week.

Of course it is wise to set the plane very fine,
and to work slowly. Besides gauging fre-
quently, test the strips often with your center
gauge, to see that the angles are true. It is
also possible to gauge them on all sides at the
same time, but this requires a gauge specially
fitted. Such a one was made for me by
a fellow angler, J. E. Radford, of Hyde Park,
Mass. This consisted of a caliper gauge with
a center gauge so fastened across its face that
the readings on the slide of the gauge were
correct for each face. In use the strip is
passed through the triangular opening and the
slide closed. In a moment the strip may be
tested and marked, if necessary, at any num-
ber of places throughout its length, and very
accurate work is therefore possible.

When all the strips have been planed to
nearly perfect size and taper, put them to-
gether, and with a length of string wind them
spirally from end to end, exerting consider-
able tension meanwhile. Caliper on all sides
from end to end, marking in your own fashion
a place that is too high, too low, or too wide,

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 198

as the case may be. ‘Take them apart again
and correct the errors, rewind them, and so
on until you are satisfied with the result.

At this stage it is well to have in hand a
memorandum of the calibers of the ferrules
you plan to put on your rod, and to work to-
ward that end. Remember that the diameter
of the cane on flat surfaces cannot be less than
the inside diameter of the ferrule that is to go
on it. It is better to use a large ferrule than
one requiring filing the cane to fit.

Of course the work on middle joint and tip
will be like that already described, but, con-
trary to the lay opinion, it is easier. When
an outsider looks at a slender tip and is told
that there are six strips in it, he marvels
greatly, but with the system described it is
not so very difficult to make tips after you
have had some practice with the thicker and
less wieldy butt strips.

Before you make the middle joint, glue up
the butt, and perhaps that work will give you
an idea or two that will help you in the sub-
sequent work with the plane. At least it will
show you that illy fitted strips will not be im-
proved or hidden in the glueing, and that you
have got to have them right before you cement
up the faults past correcting.

194 AMATEUR RODMAKING

There may be a better glue than Coignet
No. 1, a French product that is called after
the chemist of that name, but if so I am not
familiar with it. Let it soak overnight in just
enough water to cover the glue in the pot. At
best glueing strips is a messy proceeding, but
if you will go to a little extra trouble some of
the unpleasant details may be eliminated.
From the plumber’s scrap-heap select a piece
of pipe of any size and at least two-thirds the
length of your rod joints. If one end is
threaded, have a cap fitted to that end. This
is your glue tank.

Glue the strips in a warm room, and have
strips, glue, and temperature uncomfortably
warm. Provide a large pail of boiling water,
and when all is ready, pour the glue from its
pot into the tube, set the latter in the pail of
water, and insert the bundle of strips at least
a foot into the hot glue. MHbolding the strips
just above the glue mark, wind spirally with a
piece of strong cord down to the glued end and
two-thirds of the way back. Grasp the glued
portion, unwind about three inches of the por-
tion first wound, dip into the glue and hold
there until all of the strips are well coated,
and the chilled glue at the place of commence-
ment shall have had time to be warmed up,

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 195

then resume winding toward the small end,
dipping that end frequently, to keep the glue
hot. When that end is reached, reverse and
wind back to the other end, and tie off.

Roll the bundle of strips smartly back and
forth on a table, to straighten them, but do
not attempt to bend them, as every bend that
is trued will put a kink into the strips some-
where else. Suspend the joint from a nail in
a warm room for several days until the glue
has had plenty of time to set, then remove the
cord windings and scrape off the surplus glue.
With a fine file go over each of the six faces
lightly, then rub over all with an old piece of
very fine sandpaper.

The corners should not be rounded, as this
will take away part of the enamel, but they
may be rubbed a trifle to remove the sharp
edges. If the joint be straight, congratulate
yourself; if not, pass it through the flame of
an alcohol lamp until it is uncomfortably hot
to the touch, turning rapidly while so doing,
then true it up and it is ready for the ferrules.

For the sake of brevity, let us assume that
your rod is to be a fly rod, and that you are
particular that it be of a certain length. In
order to determine the lengths of the three
principal pieces, lay them on the floor, with

196 AMATEUR RODMAKING

the ferrules beside them, and allowing for the
ferrules, divide the known total length by
three, and marking each joint, lay the three
side by side and check up. Remember that
the large ferrules are longer than the other
set, and that the reel-seat will add a trifle to
the length of the lower joint.

Provide a piece of clear white pine for the
butt of the joint, shape it to fit inside the reel-
seat, and bore it carefully, then glue it in place
on the butt so that it will be a quarter-inch
shorter than the reel-seat. Good quality sheet
cork is nicest for the hand-grasp, and if you
have no large metal tube handy to cut it with,
cut it up in squares about 1% inches in diam-
eter, then hunt up an old ferrule of proper
size, file one end sharp, and cut holes in each
square to fit over the joint. Do not try to
cut the cork by hammering the cutter, but hold
the latter in one hand and with a circular mo-
tion cut out the corks. When a sufficient num-
ber have been made ready, push them down,
glue-coated, one at a time, to the reel-seat
dummy, mismatching the squares so that no
two corners will come together. Slide an old
piece of heavy pipe down on the lot, and set
the joint away in a corner until the glue is
dry.

i

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 197

The grasp may be roughed out with a sharp
knife until most of the corners are removed,
then rub lengthwise with coarse sandpaper
fitted over a wood block, then with fine sand-
paper, turning constantly and calipering fre-
quently to preserve the shape. ‘Try the reel-
seat now and then, and the winding check as
well, and when the grasp is shaped to fit both
properly, rub lightly with an old piece of the
finest grade of sandpaper, and turn your atten-
tion to the ferrule.

Mark the cane at the point where the fer-
rule-is to rest, then file off the corners from a
point just above this mark to the end, being
extremely careful to keep the cutting true with
the axis of the cane. Of course it is far better
to prepare the cane for ferrules in a lathe, but
good work may be done without one. File and
try until you are sure that the ferrule will go
home with a little forcing, then heat your ce-
ment and the wood over the alcohol lamp, rub
the cement on evenly, and warming the ferrule
slightly, push it on with steady pressure until
it is down to the pencil mark. [If it is a split
or serrated ferrule, wind the end temporarily
with a bit of string, then cement the reel-seat
on the other end in similar fashion and attach
the winding check.

198 AMATEUR RODMAKING

Good cement for this work may be had from
dealers, but I have never found anything that
will hold better than old, sticky shellac—just
such stuff as you will find in a bottle that has
been left standing a long time without a
stopper. You may have to pry it out with a
stick, but warm it and it will hold a ferrule in
place until the cows come home. I have an
idea that a trifle of plaster of Paris mixed with
it will improve it, but have not as yet used this
on a ferrule, though it will hold arrow piles
nicely.

Procure a small section of hard German sil-
ver wire, and a twist drill, each 3-64 inch thick.
Drill a hole in the reel-seat and down to the
cane, fitting it with a suitable length of the
wire, and file off the end flush with the sur-
face. Mark a place at about the center of
female ferrules, and toward the end of male
ferrules, and securing the joint in a vise, drill
carefully entirely through each ferrule, fit pins,
and smooth off the ends. When a good fer-
rule is properly cemented, then pinned through,
it should never work loose unless exposed to
the drying incident to steam-heated places.
Cement alone will hold most ferrules, and this
method will answer for the beginner who may
not be handy in delicate work, but all of the

SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 199

best rods are equipped with pinned ferrules,
and it is seldom indeed that one of them ever
comes loose, even when kept in very dry places.

In selecting the guides for your rod, try to
procure tops fitted with phosphor-bronze, or,
failing in that, hard steel rings. For the hand
guide agate is all right, though I dislike agates
for fly rods for the reason that they are so
easily broken. Bronze is better in every way,
and as it is a so-called greasy metal, it wears
but slowly, and to offset this the rings may be
turned now and then and cemented with a drop
of shellac. For the other guides, select bronzed
steel snake rings, and have them a trifle large
rather than too small, so that the line will ren-
der through them freely. It is a curious fact
_ that the total number of guides for a fly rod
is generally 13. May it be a lucky number
with you.

CHAPTER XVI
WINDING RODS

HIS subject has been kept for a separate
chapter in order that the various steps
in rodmaking can be clearly understood,

and to avoid repetition. Winding is a part of
the work that can be done at odd moments, on
a rainy day or in the evening, though I would
not advise night work with colored silks, so
trying are they on the eyes.

Let us assume, then, that you have finished
a rod—its type does not matter, as the wind-
ing is similar for all rods—and that it has
heen rubbed lightly with varnish and hung up
until absolutely dry.

The first things to consider are the guides.
If the bait-rod is for accuracy casting or for
fishing, the hand guide—the first one above
the reel—will be placed nearer the reel, and
more guides will be used than on a rod intend-
ed for distance casting only, on which two or
three guides only will be used. For fly-rods the

200

Sa

WINDING RODS 201

position and number of guides depend upon its
caliber and length.

Take up the guides one by one and file the
upper edges of the bases, so that the silk will
not be cut by them in winding; then, with a
few turns of common thread, tie each one on
the rod and true them all up by sighting
through them from both directions. ‘To assist
in their alignment tiny shallow holes should
be drilled in both ferrules, so that in putting
the rod together it is merely necessary to seat
the ferrules with the two marks opposite in
order to align the guides perfectly. This ap-
plies to all rods.

On bait-casting rods for tournament work
alone, it seems best to use only two guides, so
that the hand guide must be three feet or more
from the reel, the distance between it and the
second guide being slightly more than the dis-
tance between the second guide and the agate
top, in order to insure the least possible friction
on the line.

If you are particular to have the windings as
handsome as possible, putting them on without
wax will tend to preserve their color, if they
are carefully coated with shellac before var-
nishing. On a rod whose preliminary coat of
varnish is still a trifle soft, yet not tacky, un-

202 AMATEUR RODMAKING

waxed silk will adhere nicely when it will not
on hard varnish. Provided the silk is treated
with absolutely colorless wax in clean hands, it
will keep its color fairly well, but after the
first two or three windings are put on and
coated with shellac, the tyro will understand
why dark shades of silk cannot well be used.
For example, dark green silk, waxed but not
shellacked, will turn almost black under the
varnish, and red turns a dull shade. Wax
causes the silk to grip the wood firmly and it
waterproofs the wood in places where there is
only one coat of varnish. Still, there is no
necessity for waxing the silk.

A split cane rod, properly made and ce-
mented, can be used without windings, pro-
vided it is not exposed to actual soaking. Fol-
lowing this line of reasoning, some rodmakers
hold that winding a rod does not strengthen
it materially. This may be true of rods whose
windings are spaced 1%4 or 2 inches apart,
but if these are placed one inch or less apart
they do strengthen the rod. A rod that is
soft in action may be strengthened by close
windings or by winding continuously from end
to end in spirals, provided the latter are spaced
about one thirty-second of an inch and not
put on solidly.

WINDING RODS 203

If you are in no hurry it is well to make the
windings on the butt of split cane rods narrow,
say twelve turns each, but space them about
1% inches apart, with six or more windings
Y% inch apart next to the ferrule. On the
joint make the spaces one inch, with a similar
cluster next the ferrules, and vary those on
the tip from 34 to % inch. I am a firm be-
liever in closer windings near the ferrules, to
strengthen the strips there against damage in
twisting—not that ferrules should be sepa-
rated in any other manner than by a straight
pull.

It is safe, but not always advisable to wind
in spiral form, provided the spirals are not
so close together as to come under the descrip-
tive term “ solidly wound”’; for solid winding
renders a rod soft in action, loading it down
with a non-resilient sleeve filled with var-
nish.

I do not advocate continuous spiral wind-
ing, but I believe in stiffening a rod in this
manner if the need arises. The plan I have
followed with satisfactory results is to start
winding in the usual way, but after complet-
ing ten or a dozen turns, instead of cutting the
silk and pulling the end under, I follow the
“band” by winding spirally—each turn about

204 AMATEUR RODMAKING

1-32 of an inch from the next one—for an
inch or more, then winding solidly ten or
twelve turns, followed by another inch or two
of spiral winding, and so on to the first guide,
where the silk ends. Another series of bands
and spiral windings is begun on the opposite
side of the guide, ending at the second guide,
or the ferrule, as the case may be.

This spiral winding calls for two or three
coats of varnish, which should fill the inter-
stices between spirals, so that the surface will
be smooth, as otherwise a knock or rough
handling will break the single strands of silk.
The bands alone are coated with shellac.

As previously stated, I have great faith in
the conclusions arrived at after long experi-
ence by Frederic M. Halford. He advocates
winding fly-rods closely, from one-half to
three-quarters of an inch apart. In his opin-
ion this increases the steely spring of a split
cane rod and strengthens wood rods appre-
ciably. He does not state how wide these
windings should be, but it is assumed that
they are narrow, say seven threads in width,
since wider ones are unsightly.

When your rod is ready to be wound, your
hands being perfectly clean, lay on your work
table a small spool of buttonhole silk, the silk

WINDING RODS 205

to be used in winding, a bit of wax, a pair of
small scissors, and a very sharp knife. From
the buttonhole silk cut a piece four inches
long, wax it, lay the ends together and draw it
through the fingers until it will lie straight
with the looped end ready for use. We will
call it the pull-through.

It is assumed that your silk is not waxed,
and that you take up the butt joint of your
rod, the first winding to be put on just above
the metal taper of the handgrasp. Lay the
silk along the rod, hold the end with the left
thumb and begin the first circle, toward the
right, turning the rod toward the left mean-

4 Gs AM Wp, :
cn ‘

Fig. 56—Method of Attaching Winding at Beginning.

206 AMATEUR RODMAKING

while. This will bind the end of silk, as shown
in Fig. 56. Turn the rod slowly toward the
left with the left hand, holding the silk tight
in the right hand, which guides it. Draw the
silk as tight as possible during the first three
turns, so that it will adhere to the rod.

If you wish to make ten or twelve circlets,
after the sixth one lay the pull-through (d Fig.
57) along the rod, loop toward the left, and

6)

Figure 57.
wind over it, as shown in Fig. 60; but if the
winding is to be narrow, the pull-through
should be inserted at the beginning. This step
is illustrated in Figs. 57 and 58. Count each

oO

Figure 58.

complete circlet, at least at first, in order that
all windings will be uniform. At the end hold
the wound silk under the left thumb, cut it
within an inch of the thumb, tuck the end (d

WINDING RODS is

=o

: Figure id

‘Mir

Figure 61.

Fig. 58) through the loop of the pull-through
and draw the latter under the winding, the
end of silk following as in Fig. 59.

When the pull-through is free, pull on the
end (b) of winding silk until it is tight, then
shave it off even with the winding and cut the
original end (a) even with the last circlet of
silk. (This is often cut after the fifth or sixth
circlet.) Fig. 61 illustrates the method em-
ployed in making a narrow border of say, red,
for a wide band of say, green. ‘The figure
shows the wide green band finished and the
first stage in winding the border. In this case
the original end of silk (a Fig. 59) is not cut
off until the border is finished, as it helps to

hold both bands together. The pull-through

208 AMATEUR RODMAKING

is inserted at the beginning of the border wind-
ing, and used in the same manner as illustrated
in Fig. 59.

This method of manipulating rod windings
is the simplest one of several for making so-
called endless windings. It is capable of nu-
merous variations, and it is not only easy to
learn, but insures satisfaction.

The secret of the method is to keep the
pull-through of buttonhole silk well waxed,
and to discard it for a new one whenever it
shows wear.

In all books on rodmaking more compli-
cated forms of winding are described and
illustrated. The first step is alike in all of
these, but their authors describe the finishing
step in other ways. The most common form
consists in laying the winding silk along the
rod, so that long spirals can be passed over
the end of the rod and drawn taut, then the
silk is pulled under in the same way as de-
scribed by me, save that no separate pull-
through is employed. If one is winding near
the middle of a long joint, this method is te-
dious in the extreme, and the silk not only
snarls up, but becomes frayed. There is a
way to partially overcome this, which consists
in first winding backward in long spirals, pass-

WINDING RODS 209

ing tne end under these, winding tight, then
pulling the silk under; but it, too, is tedious.
Many years ago I discarded these methods
for the separate pull-through, and have used
it in all windings since then. It may be an-
cient, but I have never seen it described in any
work on fishing tackle.* It is, however, one
of the most useful of all wrinkles, and is par-
ticularly handy in splicing silk lines. With this
pull-through fancy windings of only two or
three turns of silk can be so neatly made that
only after ‘minute inspection can the blind ends
of the silk be seen. Indeed, I have heard
anglers assert that such windings had been
pasted down with shellac, and only after in-
specting them with a magnifying glass were
they convinced that the silk ends were actually
pulled under and cut off.
I have examined split bamboo tournament
rods in which the lower strips had given way
through hard usage, but the narrow bands of
silk had held so firmly that they were all rup-

*In reviewing “Rodmaking for Beginners,” Hugh T.
Sheringham, angling editor of the London Field, said,
among other things: “Here and there he gives some
very sage advice of general application, and some ad-
mirable hints. Among these may be mentioned his system
of finishing off a whipping by means of a ‘pull through,’
quite one of the most useful things we have seen for
some time, and one which we do not remember to have
seen elsewhere.”

210 AMATEUR RODMAKING

tured at the line of the break, the ends re-
maining unmoved. This also shows the
strength of silk windings, however narrow.

Different persons wind rods differently.
My way may not be the best one, but I will
describe it. I begin with the butt joint and
place a rather wide band of, say, green, with
a narrow red border next to the handgrasp
taper, then a similar band on each side of the
ferrules and at the top. After that I wind the
guides with, say, green, with narrow red bor-
ders. This leaves only red silk to finish, and
enables you to evenly divide the remaining
spaces to be wound. ‘The space between the
handgrasp and the first guide is measured.
Mark off every 1% inches from the guide
down, and if you like finish up with eight or
ten five-turn windings just ahead of the first
band at the taper, for ornaments. Wind the
red bands, then mark the spaces between the
two guides, or hand guide and ferrule, wind
there, and so on. So long as all spacing is
uniform, any necessary variations will not be
noticed, but as a general thing make the spaces
closer and closer toward the tip, and if there
is a separate tip, place its guides and windings
so that it will match its fellow tip.

At first one is inclined to make his windings
wide, believing that they are handsome so;

WINDING RODS 211

but as they are not necessary, it is well to make
them all ten or twelve turns, with still nar-
rower ones next to the wide bands covering
the guides, and at the ends of the joints. Red
being a lasting color, it is well to use it through-
out, with light or medium green for borders.
All red without ornaments requires much less
work, but is not so neat as if there is some
relief. If you object to colors, use cream or
light yellow silk, which will hardly show on
bamboo or dagama. For bethabara red is
standard. Green alone or as a predominat-
ing color lacks taste, although it comes out well
for narrow borders with red. At one time I
happened to see a spool of lilac silk while wind-
ing a rod, and tried it. It looked so neat at
first that I used it throughout the rod, using
apple green for borders. The rod was a good
one, but I couldn’t stand those colors, and
gave it away to a fisherman in Canada.
Somehow the colors ‘“ got on his nerves,” too,
and he in turn gave the rod to an uncle whose
vision was poor. I trust the old gentleman
does not consider it a hoodoo rod, as his
nephew and its maker did

There is a sort of unwritten law among
rodmakers to use heavy winding silk on large
rods, and so on down to the finest silk fo1
light fly-rods. It is well to follow this rule

212 AMATEUR RODMAKING

so far as may be possible. On tarpon, heavy
salt water and trolling rods, on salmon rods
and on the butt joints of heavy fly-rods size
A is the proper thing. It is the commercial
size that can be obtained anywhere. Size O
is suitable for joints, size OO for tips of most
rods, and for light fly-rods. One reason for
this is that on tips the heavier silk is likely to
be cut through by the line as it shoots through
the guides in casting the fly, whereas the finer
silk windings may be unaffected. On tourna-
ment fly-rods, when the line is coiled on a
platform that is covered with grit, it is not
unusual to see the windings of tips cut through
as if with a dull knife.

Smaller silk than A is difficult to obtain of
the retail trade, but there is a way to so
utilize A silk that it will answer every require-
ment, with a lasting supply always at hand in
the nearest dry goods store. This method
follows:

Having selected the colors desired, wind
the guides and ferrules—if the latter are split
or serrated—with size A. If the ferrule and
guide windings are to have borders of another
color, leave these until the last thing. Take
a spool of A and cut off a piece a foot long
and rub this carefully with wax, which must
be colorless and free from foreign matter that

WINDING RODS 213

will darken the silk. Twist this piece of silk
in the opposite direction to that followed in
its manufacture, so that the strands will sepa-
rate, and hold them apart until each one of
the three can be removed and laid aside. Now
take up one of the strands and wax it thor-
oughly. It will remain a trifle kinky, but that
will not matter. After it is waxed, it will
cease trying to snarl up, as at first, and you
will have a really strong thread of silk floss —
much softer than the three-ply strand from
which it was taken. Try it on the thin tip
of a fly-rod, and you will notice that in wind-
ing it will lie flat and spread out a trifle, like
a ribbon, while it will not look so lumpy, even
as a thread of OO silk, and after the rod has
been varnished the windings will be very neat
and workmanlike

It is obvious that this thread is not as
strong as three-ply, and it should be tested to
determine how much strain it will bear with-
out breaking. It is stronger, however, than
would be supposed, and I have wound a fly-
rod tip with separated strands of O without
breaking more than three all told; so that the
A strands will give little trouble on this score
if properly waxed.

Of course, in employing this method, you
cannot work from the spool, but must cut off

214 AMATEUR RODMAKING

suitable lengths and wax and separate the
strands before beginning to wind. This is
more tedious than employing silk direct from
the spool, but you have the advantage of pre-
paring the material for several windings at
one time, and a little experimenting will deter-
mine how much to cut for certain work. A
strand fifteen inches in length will make four
or five narrow windings for a fly-rod tip, but
for the joint and butt much longer strands will
be necessary.

Because of the flat, ribbon-like form of the
separated strands, fewer turns to each wind-
ing will be the rule than if OO were used;
but the silk is so thin when tightly wound that
no objections can be raised to its bulk. Given
a coat of shellac on the silk only, and the en-
tire rod then coated with the best light coach
varnish, put on while warm, the rod will be
a work of art, and a finger rubbed over its
length will barely feel the windings.

Finally, the thinner the silk employed in
windings, the less will they be cut and frayed
by the fly line. A great many of the hard
enameled fly lines break, or, rather, the enamel
breaks in places if much used, so that the line
is not smooth and wiry as when new, and such
lines wear the windings rapidly, particularly

WINDING RODS 215

those in which large sizes of silk are used. I
have seen new tournament fly-rods with every
winding on the tips cut entirely through after
a few days’ use, necessitating considerable ex-
pense in renewing windings and varnish; but
this is often due to insufficient varnish in the
first place, or to coating the rod with shellac
instead of good varnish. It is much less
trouble and cheaper to shellac windings, rod
and all at one time than to shellac the wind-
ings, then varnish over all, two coats; but it
is not so satisfactory to the owner of the rod.

CHAPTER XVII
VARNISHING RODS

HEN your rod has been wound, it is
well to take up each joint, and while
turning it rapidly, pass it over an

alcohol or gas flame to remove all fuzzy ends
of silk. Be careful that the flame is not close
enough to scorch the windings, however. If
any ends of silk protrude, cut them off short
with a sharp knife.

Now warm your grain alcohol shellac
slightly, so that it will flow well, and with the
thin, round artist’s brush previously referred
to, coat each silk winding evenly, being care-
ful to keep the shellac off the wood. As a rule
One coat on the windings will be sufficient, but
if the silk seems to be dry and dull after the
first coat has dried, go over it lightly a second
time, and let the rod dry for several hours.
Because the shellac seems to be dry and hard
on the surface of the windings after an hour,
do not take it for granted and go ahead with

varnishing. Shellac dries on the surface first,
216

VARNISHING RODS 217

and if two coats of it are put on windings, it
is well to let them dry for a couple of days
before attempting to varnish.

When you take it up again, go over the
wood with a piece of flannel or linen, rubbing
lightly but thoroughly to remove any wax,
grease or oil that may have accumulated there
during the winding. ‘This is absolutely neces-
sary to the attainment of a nice finish, and
after the shellac on the windings is hard no
harm can be done by polishing the wood with
a strip of soft cotton or silk, bootblack fash-
ion. To do this hold one end of the joint
against something firm, to prevent turning.
While it is not necessary, the shellac can be
warmed slightly over a flame at this stage and
the joint turned while a finger is passed around
each winding to smooth down any uneven sur-
faces. After this do not touch the wood or
windings with your hands; pick it up by the
ferrules instead.

When you are ready to varnish, select a
warm day if possible, or at any rate one when
the air is not humid or moist. The rod should
be warmed in a room where the temperature
is 75 degrees, and your can of extra light
coach varnish should be left for ten minutes
in a pot of steaming hot water, to be sure that

218 AMATEUR RODMAKING

it will be thin and all particles of gum con-
tained in it will be melted so that it will flow
nicely and dry rapidly. A warm rod and hot
varnish will insure a nice finish,

For your work it is assumed that you have
procured a flat brush of good quality, and that
you are ready to begin by holding one end of
a joint on a table and the other in your left
hand. With a modest quantity of varnish,
pass the brush from the top down for four
inches, turning the joint slowly while the
brush is held at an angle of about 20 degrees
to the rod. Work very slowly, and in going
over each winding see that a bare spot is not
left there, caused by the brush skipping over
the silk and missing the wood just beyond.
To prevent this it is sometimes advisable to
pass the brush around the rod at each wind-
ing first, then, when the varnish in it is nearly
exhausted, go over that part lengthwise, to
insure an even coating. At any rate, great
care must be exercised to prevent daubing the
varnish on in places and skipping others.

The first coat should be worked in, with no
attempt to flow the varnish on, and be careful
lest varnish accumulates around the guides,
and leaves them gummed up and unsightly.
The same care is necessary with reference to

VARNISHING RODS 219

the ferrules. To avoid marring them, pass
the brush around the contiguous winding very
slowly, coating the silk but not encroaching on
the metal.

When all the part of the rod are var-
nished, if they can be assembled and the rod
suspended in a fairly warm, dry room, free
from dust, for two or three days, all should
be well. A brad driven in a picture mould-
ing is ideal, provided the rod does not hang
close to the wall, but the center of a room
is a better place, as some walls are cold, even
damp, and on the side of a rod hanging close
to such a wall the varnish may crawl and
spoil your work.

In spring or summer it is usually safe to
varnish a rod in the morning and suspend it
in a window. The morning sun is not too
warm, but it is often too warm after I0
o’clock for the best results. Plenty of fresh
air is best, but a windy place should be avoid-
ed, as dust is likely to be flying there. Do
not leave separate joints, while they are dry-
ing, where careless persons may accidentally
knock them over or break them, and see that
they are kept indoors at night. Do not touch
the varnish with the hands.

Perhaps you will be satisfied with one coat

220 AMATEUR RODMAKING

of varnish. If it is evenly applied it will be
suficient for split bamboo rods; but coach
varnish applied while warm is not very thick,
and a light second coat will keep out moisture.
The first coat should set in four hours and be
hard enough for a second coat in less than a
week. ‘The second coat, however, should be
given as much time as possible to dry and
harden before the rod is used, depending on
the temperature. This coat can be deferred
with safety until the middle of the season or
even until the following winter if the rod is
not subjected to hard usage; and if it is still
in good condition, the new varnish will make
it like a new rod. For hard use, however, two
coats of varnish will not be wasted, but three
will not be needed.

If spar varnish is to be used—and many
salt water anglers employ it—three coats,
with several days between, will be necessary.

Cord-wound handgrasps should be given
two coats of shellac and one of coach var-
nish. More will be likely to render the cord
slippery. If the grasp is sumac, omit the
shellac and put on two coats of coach, giving
it ample time to dry.

THE END

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK

tT { } >}

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@ Each book deals with a separate subject and deals with it thor-
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1. EXERCISE AND HEALTH, by Dr. Woods

Hutchinson. Dr. Hutchinson takes the common-sense view that
the greatest problem in exercise for most of us is to get enough of
the right kind. The greatest error in exercise is not to take enough,
and the greatest danger in athletics is in giving themup. He writes
in a direct matter-of-fact manner withan avoidance of medical terms,
and astrong emphasis on the rational, all-round manner of living
that is best calculated to bring a man to a ripe old age with little
illness or consciousness of bodily weakness.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK
2. CAMP COOKERY, by Horace Kephart. «The

less a man carries in his pack the more he must carry in his head,”
says Mr. Kephart. This book tells what a man should carry in both
pack and head. Every step is traced—the selection of provisions
and utensils, with the kind and quantity of each, the preparation of
e, the building of fires, the cooking of every conceivable kind of
ood that the camp outfit or woods, fields or streams may provide—
even to the making of desserts. Every recipe is the result of hard
practice and long experience.

3. BACKWOODS SURGERY AND MEDICINE,

by Charles S. Mood ’ M.D. a handy book for the pru-
dent lover of the woods who doesn’t expect to be ill but believes in
being on the safe side. Common-sense methods for the treatment
of the ordinary wounds and accidents are described—setting a
broken limb, reducing a dislocation, caring for burns, cuts, etc.
Practical remedies for camp diseases are recommended, as well as
the ordinary indications of the most probable ailments. Includes a
list of the necessary medical and surgical supplies.

4. APPLE GROWING, by M. C. Burritt. The

various problems confronting the apple grower, from the preparation
of the soil and the planting of the trees to the marketing of the fruit,
are discussed in detail by the author, Chapter headings are:—The
Outlook for the Growing of Apples—Planning for the Orchard—
Planting and Growing the Orchard— Pruning the Trees—Cultivation
and Cover Cropping—Manuring and Fertilizing—Insects and Dis-
eases Affecting the Apple—The Princi les and Practice of Spraying
—Harvesting and Storing—Markets and Marketing—Some Hints on
Renovating Old Orchards—The Cost of Growing Apples.

5. THE AIREDALE, by Williams Haynes. The

book opens with a short chapter on the origin and development of
the Airedale, as a distinctive breed. The author then takes up the
problems of type as bearing on the selection of the dog, breeding,
training and use. The book is designed for the non-professional dog
fancier, who wishes common sense advice which does not involve
elaborate preparations or expenditure. Chapters are included on the
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® 6. THE AUTOMOBILE—Its Selection, Care and

Use, by Robert Sloss. This is a plain, practical discussion of
the things that every man needs to know if he is to buy the right car
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care are given in simple, intelligent terms. From it the car owner
can easily learn the mechanism of his motor and the art of locating
motor trouble, as well as how to use his car for the greatest pleasure.
A chapter is included on building garages.

7. FISHING KITS AND EQUIPMENT, by

Samuel G. Camp. A complete guide to the angler buying a new
outfit. Every detail of the fishing kit ofthe freshwater angler is de-
scribed, from rodtip to creel, and clothing. Special emphasis is laid
on outfitting for fly fishing, but full instruction is also given to the
man who wants to catch pickerel, pike, muskellunge, lake-trout, bass
and other freshwater game fishes. Prices are quoted for all articles
recommended and the approved method of selecting aud testing the
various rodg, lines, leaders, etc., is described.

8. THE FINE ART OF FISHING, by Samuel G.

Camp. Combine the pleasure of catching fish with the gratification
of following the sport inthe most approved manner. The sugges-
tions offered are helpful to beginner and expert anglers. The range
of fish and fishing conditions covered is wide and includes such sub-
jects as “Casting Fine and Far Off,” “Strip-Casting for Bass,” “Fish-
ing for Mountain Trout” and “Autumn Fishing for Lake Trout.”
The book is pervaded with a spirit of love for the streamside and
the out-doors generally which the genuine angler will appreciate.
A companion book to “Fishing Kits and Equipment.” The advice
on eins so capably given in that book is supplemented in this _
later work by equally valuable information on how to use the

equipment.
9. THE HORSE—Its Breeding, Care and Use, by

David Buffum. Mr. Buffum takes up the common, every-day
problems of the ordinary horse-users, such as feeding, shoeing,
simple home remedies, breaking and the cure for various equine
vices. An important chapter is that tracing the influx of Arabian
blood into the English and American horses and its value and limi-
tations. Chapters are included on draft-horses, carriage horses, and
the development of the two-minute trotter. It is distinctly a sensible
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10. THE MOTOR BOAT—Its Selection, Care and.

Use, by H. W. Slauson. The intending purchaser is advised
as to the type of motor boat best suited to his particular needs and
how to keep it in running condition after nan obi The chapter
headings are: Kinds and Uses of Motor Boats—When the Motor
Balks—Speeding of the Motor Boat—Getting More Power from a
New Motor—How to Install a Marine Power Plant—Accessories—
Covers, Canopies and Tops—Camping and Cruising—The Boathouse.

11. OUTDOOR SIGNALLING, by Elbert Wells.
Mr. Wells has sight: a method of signalling by means of wig-
wag, light, smoke, or whistle which is as simple as it is effective.
The fundamental principle can be learned in ten minutes and its
application is far easier than that of any other code now in use.
It permits also the use of cipher and can be adapted to almost any
imaginable conditions of weather, light, or topography.

12. TRACKS AND TRACKING, by Josef Brunner.

After twenty years of patient study and practical experience, Mr.
Brunner can, from his intimate knowledge, speak with authority on
this subject. “Tracks and Tracking” shows how to follow intelli-
gently even the most intricate animalor birdtracks. Itteaches how
to interpret tracks of wild game and decipher the many tell-tale
signs of the chase that would otherwise pass unnoticed. It proves
how it is possible to tell from the footprints the name, sex, speed,
direction, whether and how wounded, and many other things about
wild animals and birds. All material has been gathered first hand;
the drawings and half-tones from photographs form an important
part of the work,

13. WING AND TRAP-SHOOTING, by Charles

Askins. Contains a full discussion of the various methods,
such as snap-shooting, swing and half-swing, discusses the flight of
birds with reference to the gunner’s problem of lead and range and
makes special application of the various points to the different birds
commonly shot in this country. A chapter is included on trap
shooting and the book closes with a forceful and common-sense
resentation of the etiquette of the field,

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14, PROFITABLE BREEDS OF POULTRY, by
Arthur S. Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler discusses from personal ex-

’ perience the best-known general purpose breeds. Advice is given
from the standpoint of the’man who desires results in eggs and stock
rather than in specimens for exhibition. In addition to a careful
analysis of stock—good and bad—and some conclusions regarding
housing and management, the author writes in detail regarding
Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds,
Mediterraneans and the Cornish.

15. RIFLES AND RIFLE SHOOTING, by Charies

Askins. A practical manual describing various makes and mechan-
isms, in addition to discussing in detail the range and limitations in
the use of the rifle. Treats on the every style and make of rifle
ag well as their use. Every type of rifle is discussed so that the
book is complete in every detail.

16. SPORTING FIREARMS, by Horace Kephart.
This book is the result of painstaking tests and experiments. Prac-
tically nothing is taken for granted. Part I deals with the rifle, and
Part II with the shotgun. The man seeking guidance in the selec-
tion and use of small firearms, as well as the advanced student of
the subject, will receive an unusual amount of assistance from this
work. The chapter headings are: Rifles and Ammunition—The
Flight of Bullets—Killing Power—Rifle Mechanism and Materials—
Rifle Sights—Triggers and Stocks—Care of Rifle—Shot Patterns and
Penetration—Gauges and Weights—Mechanism and Build of
Shotguns.

17. THE YACHTSMAN’S HANDBOOK, by Herbert

L. Stone. The author and compiler of this work is the editor of
“Yachting.” He treats in simple language of the many problems
confronting the amateur sailor and motor boatman. Handling
ground tackle, handling lines, taking soundings, the use of the lead
line, care and use of sails, yachting etiquette, are all given careful
attention. Some light is thrown upon the operation of the gasoline
motor, and suggestions are made for the avoidance of engine
troubles.

18. SCOTTISH AND IRISH TERRIERS, by Wil-

liams Haynes. This is a companion book to “The Airedale,”
and deals with the history and development of both breeds. For
_the owner of the dog, valuable information is given as to the use of
the terriers, their treatment in health, their treatment when sick,
the principles of dog breeding, and dog shows and rules.

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19. NAVIGATION FOR THE AMATEUR, by Capt.

E. T. Morton. A short treatise on the simpler methods of find:
ing position at sea by the observation of the sun’s altitude and the
use of the sextant and chronometer. It is arranged especially for
yachtsmen and amateurs who wish to know the simpler formulae
for the necessary navigation involved in taking a boat anywhere off
shore. Illustrated with drawings. Chapter headings: Fundamental
Terms—Time—The Sumner Line—The Day’s Work, Equal Altitude,
and Ex-Meridian Sights—Hints on Taking Observations.

20. OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY, by Julian A.

Dimock. A solution of all the problems in camera work out-of-
doors. The various subjects dealt with are: The Camera—Lens and
Plates—Light and Exposure—Development—Prints and Printing—
Composition—Landscapes—Figure Work—Speed Photography—The
es Tarpon—Sea Pictures—In the Good Old Winter Time—
Wild Life.

21. PACKING AND PORTAGING, by Dillon

Wallace. Mr. Wallace has brought together in one volume all
the valuable information on the different ways of making and carry:
ing the different kinds of packs. The ground covered ranges from
man-packing to horse-packing, from the use of the tump line to
throwing the diamond hitch.

22. THE BULL TERRIER, by Williams Haynes.
This is a companion book to “The Airedale” and “Scottish and Irish
Terriers” by the same author. Its greatest usefulness is as a guide
to the dog owner who wishes to be his own kennel manager. A full
account of the development of the breed is given with a description
of best types and standards. Recommendations for the care o
the dog in health or sickness are included. The chapter heads
cover such matters as:—The Bull Terrier’s History—Training the
Bull Terrier—The Terrier in Health—Kenneling—Diseases.

wz Ke

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK

23. THE FOX TERRIER, by Williams Haynes.

_ As in his other books on the terrier, Mr. Haynes takes up the origin

_ and history of the breed, its types and standards, and the more ex-

clusive representatives down to the present time. Training the Fox

Terrier—His Care and Kenneling in Sickness and Health—and the

-ced Uses to Which He Can Be Put—are among the phases
andle

24. SUBURBAN GARDENS, by Grace Tabor.

Illustrated with diagrams. The author regards the house and
grounds as acomplete unit and shows how the best results may be
obtained by carrying the reader in detail through the various phases
of designing the garden, with the levels and contours necessary,
laying out the walks and paths, planning and placing the arbors,
summer houses, seats, etc., and selecting and placing trees, shrubs,
vines and flowers. Ideal plans for plots of various sizes are appended,
as well as suggestions for correcting mistakes that have been made
through “starting wrong.”

CF) RN Zn :
in —o

29. FISHING WITH FLOATING FLIES, by
Samuel G. Camp. This is an art that is comparatively new in
this country although English anglers have used the dry fly for
generations. Mr. Camp has given the matter special study and is
one of the few American anglers who really understands the matter
from the selection of the outfit to the landing of the fish. His book
takes up the process in that order, namely—How to Outfit for Dry
Fly Fishing—How, Where, and When to Cast—The Selection and
Use of Floating Flies—Dry Fly Fishing for Brook, Brown and
Rainbow Trout—Hooking, Playing and Landing—Practical Hints on
Dry Fly Fishing. .

26. THE GASOLINE MOTOR, by Harold Whiting

Slauson. Deals with the practical problems of motor operation.
The standpoint is that of the man who wishes to know how and
why gasoline generates power and something about the various
types. Describes in detail the different parts of motors and the
faults to which they are liable. Also gives full directions as to re-
pair and upkeep. Various chapters deal with Types of Motors—
Valves — Bearings — Ignition — Carburetors — Lubrication— Fuel —
Iwo Cycle Motors.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK

27. ICE BOATING, by H.L. Stone. Miustrated with
diagrams. Here have been brought iogether all the available in-
formation on the organization and history of ice-boating, the build-
ing of the various types of ice yachts, from the small 15 footer to
the 600-foot racer, together with detailed plans and specifications.
Full information is also given to meet the needs of those who wish
to be able to build and sail their own boats but are handicapped by
the lack of proper knowledge as to just the points described in this
volume.

28. MODERN GOLF, by Harold H. Hilton. mr.
Hilton is the only man who has ever held the amateur champion-
ship of Great Britain and the United States in the same year. In
addition to this, he has, for years, been recognized as one of the
most intelligent, steady players of the game in England. This book
is a product of his advanced thought and experience and gives the
reader sound advice, not so much on the mere swinging of the clubs
as in the actual playing of the game, with all the factors that enter
into it. He discusses the use of wooden clubs, the choice of clubs,
the art of approaching, tournament play as a distinct thing in itself,
and kindred subjects.

29. INTENSIVE FARMING, by L. C. Corbett.

A discussion of the meaning, method and value ofintensive methods
in agriculture. This book is designed for the convenience of prac-
tical farmers who find themselves under the necessity of making a
living out of high-priced land.

30. PRACTICAL DOG BREEDING, by Williams

Haynes. This is a companion volume to PRACTICAL DOG
KEEPING, described below. It goes at length into the funda-
mental questions of breeding, such as selection of types on both
sides, the perpetuation of desirable, and the elimination of undesir-
able, qualities, the value of prepotency in building up a desired
breed, etc. The ar ents are illustrated with instances of what
has been accomplished, both good and bad, in the case of well-
known breeds.

31. PRACTICAL DOG KEEPING, by Williams

Haynes. Mr. Haynes is well known to the readers of the OUTING
H BOOKS asthe author of books onthe terriers. His new
book is somewhat more ambitious in that it carries him into the
general field of selection of breeds, the buying and selling of dogs,
the care of dogs in kennels, handling in bench shows and field trials,
and at considerable length into such subjects as food and feeding,
exercise and grooming, disease, etc.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK
a a na PS EET I EE ER FACE

32, PRACTICAL TREE PLANTING, by C. R.

Pettis. The author, who is the New York State Forester, takes up
the general subject of reforesting, covering nature’s method and the
practical methods of broadcast seed-sowing, seed spot planting,
nursery practice, etc. The various species are described and their
adaptability to varying conditions indicated. Results of reforesting
are shown and instructions are given for the planting of wind-
breaks and shade trees. _ .

33. AMATEUR RODMAKING, by Perry D. Frazer.

Hilustrated. A practical manual for all those who want to make
their own rod and fittings. It contains a review of fishing rod his-
tory, a discussion of materials, a list of the tools needed, description
of the method to be followed in making all kinds of rods, including
fly-casting, bait-fishing, ealmon, etc., with full instructions for wind-
ing, varnishing, etc.

34. PISTOLAND REVOLVERSHOOTING, byA.L.

A. Himmelwright. A new and revised edition of a work that has
already achieved prominence as an accepted authority on the use of
the hand gun. Full instructions are givenin the use of both revolver
and target pistol, including shooting position, grip, position efarm, etc.
The book is thoroughly illustrated with diagrams and photographs
and includes the.-tules of the United States Revolver Association
and a list of the records made both here and abroad.

35. PIGEON RAISING, by Alice MacLeod. This
is a book for both fancier and market breeder. Full descriptions
are given of the consiruction of houses, the care of the birds, pre-

aration for market, and shipment. Descriptions of the various
ee with their markings and characteristics are given. Llustrated
with photographs and diagrams.

36. FISHING TACKLE, by Perry D. Frazer. [f]-

lustrated. ‘The subtitle is descriptive. “Hints for Beginners in
the Selection, Care, and Use of Rods, Reels, Lines, etc.” It tells all
the fisherman needs to know about making and overhauling his
tackle during the closed season and gives full instructions for tour-
nament casting and fly-casting. Chapters are included on cases and
holders for the care of tackle when not in use,

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK

37. AUTOMOBILE OPERATION, by A. L.

Brennan, Jr. [lustrated. Tells the plain truth about the little
things that every motorist wants to know about his own car. Do
you want to cure ignition troubles? Overhaul and adjust your
carbureter? Keep your transmission in order? Get the maximum
wear out of your tires? Do any other of the hundred and one
things that are necessary for the greatest use and enjoyment of your
ear? Then you will find this book useful.

38. THE FOX HOUND, by Roger D. Williams.
Author of “Horse and Hound”. flustrated. The author is
the foremost authority on fox hunting and foxhounds in America.
For years he has kept the foxhound studbook, and is the final source
of information on all disputed points relating to this breed. His
book discusses types, methods of training, kenneling, diseases and
all the other practical points relating to the use and care of
hound. An appendix is added containing the rules and regulations
of hound field trials.

39. SALT WATER GAME FISHING, by Charles

F. Holder. Mr. Holder covers the whole field of his subject
devoting a chapter each to such fish as the tuna, the tarpon, pre
jack, the sail fish, the yellow-tail, the king fish, the barracuda, the
sea bass and the small game fishes of Florida, Porto Rico, the Pacific
Coast, Hawaii, and the Philippines. The habits and habitats of the
fish are described, together with the methods and tackle for taking
them. The book concludes with an account of the development
and rules of the American Sea Angling Clubs. Illustrated.

40. WINTER CAMPING, by Warwick S.Carpenter.

A book that meets the increasing interest in outdoor life in the cold
weather. Mr. Carpenter discusses such subjects as shelter equipment,
clothing, food, snowshoeing, skiing, and winter hunting, wild life in
winter woods, care of frost bite, etc. It is based on much actual ex-
perience in winter camping and is fully illustrated with working
photographs.

41. LEARNING TO SWIM, by L. DeB. Handley.
Illustrated. Mr. Handley takes up the problem from the standpoint
of the person of any sex or age who cannot swim a stroke. Step by
step he unfolds the various stages, floating, the side stroke, the
crawl, the trudgeon, the breast stroke, swimming on the back, etc.,
concluding with a chapter on speed swimming and training for rac-
ing. It covers the whole field of natation in a clear, simple manner,
with photographs showing each stroke in detail.

42. BOAT AND CANOE BUILDING, by Victor

Slocum. All of us like to think we could build a boat if we had
to. Mr. Slocum tells us ce to Sa be Designs Pi given for the
various types of canoes as well as escriptions for pre e
material and ig it together. Small dories and lepetecdie ieee
are also include#

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK
43, PRACTICAL PROSPECTING, by Charles

Johnson Post. Mustrated. Did you ever wonder what ore-
bearing rock looked like? Did you ever want to know how to test
it for the various minerals? Would you be interested in learning
how to put together a rough and ready outfit that would do all the
work of the more expensive kits? This book covers all these points
and more. It is a valuable companion for a walking trip through
the hills. It tells you not only where minerals are found and how,
but also where you need not expect to find them,

44. BOXIN G, by D. C: Hutchison. Practical in-

struction for men who wish to learn the first steps in the manly
art. Mr. Hutchison writes from long personal experience as an
amateur boxer and as a trainer of other amateurs. His instructions
are accompanied with full diagrams showing the approved blows
and guards. He also gives full directions for training for condition
without danger of going stale from overtraining. It is essentially a
book for the amateur who boxes for sport and exercise.

45. TENNIS TACTICS, by Raymond D. Little.

Out of his store of experience as a successful tennis player, Mr.
Little has written this practical guide for those who wish to know
how real tennis is played. He tells the reader when and how to
take the net, discusses the relative merits of the back-court and
volleying game and how their proper balance may be achieved;
analyzes and appraises the twist service, shows the fundamental
necessities of successful doubles play.

46. THE AUXILIARY YACHT, by H. L. Stone.

Combines information on the installation of power in a boat that
was not designed especially for it.with the features desirable in de-
signing a boat for this double use. Deals with the peculiar proper-
ties of the auxiliary, its advantages and disadvantages, the handling
of the boat under sail and power, etc. Does not go into detail on
engine consiruction but gives the approximate power needed for
different boats and the calculations necessary to find this figure.

47, TAXIDERMY, by Leon L. Pray. Miustrated with

diagrams. Being a practical taxidermist, the author at once goes into
the question of seleciion of tools and materials for the various stages
of skinning, stuffing and mounting. The subjects whose handling
is described are, for the most part, the every-day ones, such as
ordinary birds, small mammals, etc., although adequate instructions
are included for mounting big game specimens, as well as the pre-
liminary cere of skins in hot climates. Full diagrams accompany
the text.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY—NEW YORK

48. THE CANOE—ITS SELECTION, CARE AND

USE, by Robert E. Pinkerton. Mustrated with photographs.
With proper use the canoe is one of the safests crafts that floats.
Mr. Pinkerton tells how that state of safety may be obtained. He
gives full instructions for the selection of the right canoe for each
articular purpose or set of conditions. Then he tells howit should
used in order to secure the maximum of safety, comfort and use-
fulness. His own lesson was learned among the Indians of Canada,
where paddling is a high art, and the use of the canoe almost as
much a matter of course as the wearing of moccasins.

49. HORSE PACKING, by Charles J. Post.

Tilustrated with diagrams. This is a complete description of the
hitches, knots, and apparatus used in making and carrying loads of
various kinds on horseback. Its basisis the methods followed in the
West and inthe American Army. The diagrams are full and detailed,
giving the various hitches and knots at each of the important stages
so that even the novice can follow and use them. It is the onl

book ever published on this subject of which this could be said
Full description is given of the ideal pack animal, as well as a cata-
logue of the diseases and injuries to which such animals are subject.

50. RAINY DAY IN CAMP, by C. H. Claudy.

Illustrated. What do you do when you are stormbound in the camp
and time hangs heavy on your hands? This book gives a long list
of games that you can play and the rules that govern them. It also
describes various improvised indoor occupations appropriate to
camp life. If you have it in your duffle bag you need not fear the
approach of threatening clouds.

51. WALKING OUTFITS, by C. P. Fordyce.

Tilustrated. Every year the adherents of “hiking” in this country
grow in numbers and enthusiasm. It is an old art and a valuable
one. But something more than a pair of legs is necessary to make
the walking trip a success. You must wear the right shoes and the
right clothes. You must carry with you the right kind of sleeping
and cooking outfit. Mr. Fordyce gives the concentrated experience
of many years on highway and trail.

52. LEARNING TO SKATE. by J. F. Verne.
Illustrated. Half the fun of skating is in knowing how to do if
with the least effort. Nothing is so easy when you know how—or
so hard when you don’t. This book describes the process in detail
from the first day on the ice to the highest development of
speed and fancy skating. The author is familiar with the latest
developments in Europe where figure skating has been carried to
a much higher point than ia America. .

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