Amateur 
 
 draaking 
 
 erry D * F r a z e 
 
Class Smffl 
 
 Book C4 
 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
AMATEUR RODMAKING 
 
AMATEUR 
 RODMAKING 
 
 BY 
 
 PERRY D. FRAZER, 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 HANDBOOKS 
 
 Number 33 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 MCMXIV 
 
4 V 
 
 Copyright, 1914, by 
 OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 DEC 15 1914 
 
 r 
 
 7o 
 
 CU3888S2 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. A Review of Fishing Rod His- 
 tory 13 
 
 II. Fishing Rod Material . . . 30 
 
 III. Mounting and Finishing Ma- 
 
 terials 50 
 
 IV. Tools Needed in Rodmaking . 69 
 V. Types of Bait-Casting Rods . 75 
 
 VI. One-Piece Bait-Casting Rods . 80 
 VII. One-Piece Bait-Casting Rods 
 
 with Separate Handgrasps . 96 
 
 VIII. Two-Piece Bait-Casting Rods . 10 1 
 
 IX. Three-Piece Bait-Casting Rods 107 
 
 X. Salt- Water Rods . . . .111 
 
 XL Bass and Trout Fly-Rods . .117 
 
 XII. Salmon Fly-Rods . . . .121 
 
 XIII. On the History of the Split 
 
 Bamboo Rod 128 
 
 XIV. Split Bamboo Rodmaking for 
 
 the Beginner 151 
 
 XV. Split Bamboo Rodmaking for 
 
 the Advanced Workers . .172 
 
 XVI. Winding Rods . . . . . 200 
 
 XVII. Varnishing Rods ; , , „■ .216 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Nonagonal and Octagonal Cane Rods 
 
 . Page 21 
 
 An Eighteen-strip Rod ..... 
 
 " 23 
 
 Serrated Ferrules ...... 
 
 " 52 
 
 Split Ferrules ....... 
 
 " 53 
 
 Plain Capped and Welted Ferrules . 
 
 " 54 
 
 Sectional View of Doweled Ferrules 
 
 " 56 
 
 Reelseat for a Single Handgrasp 
 
 " 57 
 
 Cord-wound Pine Handgrasp .... 
 
 " 94 
 
 Split Bamboo Tournament Rod 
 
 " 104 
 
 Tarpon Rod 
 
 " 115 
 
 Split Bamboo Bass Fly Rod .... 
 
 " 119 
 
 Method of Attaching Winding 
 
 " 205 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 IN " Rodmaking for Beginners " I tried to 
 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, 19 14. 
 
AMATEUR RODMAKING 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 A REVIEW OF FISHING ROD HISTORY 
 
 WHEN 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 
 
14 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 
 
16 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. i. 
 
FISHING ROD HISTORY 17 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 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- 
 cellence. The 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 diffi- 
 culty in keeping water out of them with the in- 
 
18 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 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig 4. 
 
 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 FODMAKING 
 
 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. 5 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 gyi to 1 1 
 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 io^-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 
 
 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 " 
 and 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. 
 11 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. 8. — Eighteen- Strip Rod. 
 
 — 7TT 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 Fig. 9, 
 Strips. 
 
 -Method of Forming EacH of the Three- Piece 
 
 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 
 for 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 
 seldom 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 friends 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 SODMAKING 
 
 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 
 sixj Rve, 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 
 
 THERE are many anglers who are fond 
 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 in the 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 I 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 
 
32 AMATEUR ROBMAKING 
 
 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 
 is 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 
 difficult 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 
 
36 AMATEUR BODMAKING 
 
 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 37 
 
 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 
 
38 AMATEUR EOBMAKING 
 
 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 
 opinions, 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 
 
40 AMATEUR BOBMAKING 
 
 published in 1885, an d 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. ... I 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 1 ' 
 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 EODMAKING 
 
 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 1 8-foot salmon fly-rod is obtained. 
 
 The bamboos obtainable are generally 1%. 
 to iy 2 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 
 difficult 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 ROD MATERIALS 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. 10. 
 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 ROBMAKING 
 
 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 
 
 Fig. ii. 
 As finished sections of double enamel strips appear. 
 
 the enamel. In Fig. n, 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 '. 1.3718 85.74 
 
 Bethabara 1.2140 75-88 
 
 Greenheart (dark).... 1.0908 68.18 
 
 Jucara prieto 1.08 67.30 
 
 Lancewood 1.0335 65.49 
 
 Six strip split bamboo 9915 61.96 
 
 Four strip split bamboo, enamel inside .9678 60.49 
 
 Greenheart (light) 9643 60.26 
 
 Dagama 90 56.10 
 
 Hickory 7963 49.77 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MOUNTING AND FINISHING MATERIALS 
 
 WHAT 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 i% and i^-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: 
 
 i. 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 4- 
 
 h J^ IIIIJllIlWV' "'.'IiWj 
 
 4 
 
 wmm f$M)m JgS 
 
 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; e 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- 
 
 pww* 
 
 miilM 
 
 i*» )BB)) _. J 
 
 Fig. 13. — Split Ferrules. 
 
 ence letter / 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 
 are often 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- 
 rule at g (Fig. 14) is identical with the inside 
 diameter of the cap at h. 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 
 
 X- 
 
 1 
 
 www' 
 
 aim nu»i 
 
 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 
 
 1 8.) 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, y 2 inch, 17-32, 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. 
 
 Fig. 16. — Reelseat for a Single Handgrasp. 
 
 jggffl 
 
 Fig. 17. — Ferrules for a Separate Handgrasp. 
 
AMATEUR RODMAKING 
 
 Fig. 18— Reelseat and Taper for a Double Handgrasp. 
 
 Stock buttcaps are generally of ^4 i ncn di- 
 ameter at the large end. For bait-casting rods, 
 which should have rather full grasps, one inch 
 
 Fig. 19. — Agate Guide. 
 
 Fig. 20. — One-ring Ger- 
 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- 
 
MOUNTINGAND 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. 23. — Steel Fly-rod 
 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 is prepared and 
 used. I prefer Coignet No. i, 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 
 Gazette ferrule cement, can be made as follows : 
 
 Clear rosin, i ounce; boiled linseed oil, I 
 teaspoonful; gutta percha, i 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, i drachm. 
 
 Dissolve by slow heat and add 2^2 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 
 rub 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 00 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 
 color. 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 BOBMAKING 
 
 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 
 
 IN 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 
 69 
 
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, i6ths, 32ds, and 
 64ths. One of these costs about $4, but its 
 graduations are so fine that it is useful in other 
 w r ork 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 iooths 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 BODMAKING 
 
 square stock can be made nearly uniform at 
 first, in the rough. 
 
 Take a piece of cardboard and draw two 
 straight lines 4^2 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 ^2 -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 
 
 i 
 
 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 ^y 2 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. A 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 
 
 TO 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 
 a rod $y 2 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, 5J4 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 54- 
 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 77 
 
 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 $y 2 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 s 1 /* 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 
 
 A SSUMING that you have obtained all the 
 l\ 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 $y 2 feet long, the 
 agate top adding about y$ of an inch, the wood 
 should be slightly more than $y 2 feet long, to 
 allow for cutting down finally to 6$}i inches. 
 Assuming that your wood is J^-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 
 
 Arranging the Wood for Planing. 
 
 Plane the wood until it is straight and true, 
 the gauge showing that it is y 2 inch thick on 
 each side throughout its length. If it is 
 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, thert 
 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 BOBMAKING 
 
 At this stage I take a strip of paper the full 
 length of the rod and draw two parallel lines 
 on it, each 6$y% 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- 
 
 * -<* *& **4 %2 % %» & & 
 
 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 ROBMAKING 
 
 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 3/J 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 
 
 ?f 
 
 wrnlwiESm 
 
 
 Fig. 30. — Corks in Place and Sleeve Ready to Be Glued 
 On. 
 
 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 EOBMAKING 
 
 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 \Y 2 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 ^H 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. 
 I 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 
 
90 AMATEUR RODMAKING 
 
 ago the National Rod and Reel Association 
 adopted three standards for reel-yokes. The 
 smallest, ^4-inch, was cut on the arc of a ten- 
 cent piece; for %-inch reelseats, a nickel; and 
 for i-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 it 
 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 }i 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: 
 
 " I 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 SODS 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 EODMAKING 
 
 i ummt/ntuiifiMSMM*,,,.**,*,,. A 
 
 Fig. 31. — Cord-wound Pine Handgrasp. 
 
 nii»»ti))m>iM)i»))i)i))>i/wwii»»i»»)Wfi. 
 
 Fig. 32. — Pine Handgrasp, Double. 
 
 Fig- 33- — Upper Grasp Ready for Gluing 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 
 can 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 
 
 TO 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 5$ J /2 inches long, as the ferrule center 
 on the large end of the tip will enter the hand- 
 grasp ferrule about I 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 
 96 
 
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 
 
 %mmminiM% 
 
 mimivnumivm)iimw»v}jW)i))nj)))»))wnw,in)}), »,,,,, 
 
 \Mmmmmmwmmk mmjn ^ 
 
 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; l $ inches, 19-64; two feet, 17-64; 
 2j4 feet, 15-64; three feet, 13-64; 3j4 feet, 
 11-64; four feet, 5-32; 4J4 feet, y s ; S^ J A 
 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 
 
 U : 1 }^ ll))))nillll!ll))lllllllll})llllill$ 
 
 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, jthe 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 
 
 FOR a rod consisting of two pieces of 
 equal length, it is well to begin with a 
 butt three feet long and ^-inch square, 
 and two tips, each three feet by ^-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 
 
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 134 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 33 y+ 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 *4- mcn 
 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 
 
 Fig. 36. — Tip Planed to Octagon Section. 
 
 c 
 
 Fig. 37. — Tip Ready for Mounting 
 
 ■mil > 
 
 Fig. 38.— Tip Fitted with Center and Top 
 
 a . . ' . '" . '_ . ■ ^— » 
 
 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 
 on top. 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. 
 
 L^-— ^ .a g ff^ I T" A 
 
 E I 11 1 I I l»4l i i i , ^m . tj 
 
 Split Bamboo Tournament Rod with Cylindrical Cork 
 Handgrasp. 
 
 o^^^es 
 
 Z-A 
 
 Bethabara Casting Rod. 
 
 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 js 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. 
 
106 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 
 
 THE 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, making 
 even an n-foot fly-rod conveniently portable 
 when taken down. They carry this practice to 
 107 
 
108 AMATEUR ROD3IAKIXG 
 
 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 $y 2 -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]/ 2 feet long, 
 however, its advantages increase with its 
 length. 
 
 In a 53^-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 22 ^ 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 5^ 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 2ij4 inches, for the top or female ferrule 
 will extend 1 inch beyond the wood, making 
 this joint 22^ 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 BODMAKING 
 
 the middle joint and the center of the butt fer- 
 rule on the other end. 
 
 The wood of the butt joint will be 21^2 
 inches long, as the ferrule adds 134 inches^ to 
 its total length, 22^4 inches. Taper it from 
 15-32 at the pencil mark, indicating the upper 
 end of the handgrasp, to n-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 io^s 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 
 
 THE 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 
 m 
 
112 AMATEUR SOD3IAKING 
 
 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 an- 
 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 1034 inches; 
 tip, 5 feet $%. inches. Handgrasp, 21 inches, 
 wound with celluloid and fitted with a rubber 
 button. Swell of handgrasp, 1 n-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, y% 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 II j£ 
 inches; tip, 4 feet n>4 inches. Handgrasp, 
 2534 inches long, or 22 T < inches to center of 
 
SALT-WATER RODS 113 
 
 reel. Swell of grasp, i 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, % inch, fitted for a 250-yard 
 reel. Tip calibers: ferrule center, 17-32 inch; 
 6 inches forward, 17-32; 12 inches, T / 2 ; 18 
 inches, 15-32; 24 inches, 7-16; 30 inches, 
 13-32 ; 36 inches, }i\ 42 inches, 21-64; 4-8 
 inches, 9-32; 54 inches, 17-64; at top, %. inch. 
 Top, stirrup-tube, 5-16 caliber; raised agate 
 guide, ioy 2 inches from top, with the second 
 guide 14 inches below the first and 36 inches 
 from the reel. Guide calibers, 5-16 and }i 
 inch. 
 
 This rod weighs only 13 ounces. It was 
 designed for the regulation 2 ]/ 2 -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 2 y 2 -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 
 Y% 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, 36^ inches. Weight, 13 ounces. 
 Handgrasp, double, cord-wound; length, 21 
 inches. Swell of lower grasp, 1% inches; of 
 upper grasp, 1 inch. Diameter of reel-seat, 
 % inch. Taper, handgrasp to ferrule, uni- 
 form, 35-64 to 29-64; ferrule center, 7-16. 
 inch. Caliber of tip 6 inches from center, 
 13-32; 12 inches, 25-64; 18 inches, n-32; 24 
 inches, 21-64; 30 inches, 9-32; at top, 15-64 
 inch. Top, stirrup-tube, agate, 5-16; bell 
 guide, () l / 2 inches from top; second guide, 5-16, 
 agate, spaced 173/2 inches, and 27 inches from 
 reel. 
 
 This rod is pleasant to use for medium-sized 
 sea fish, and handles the standard 2^2-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 
 
 III I I I ■*■ I I I I <■ 
 
 Tarpon Rod. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Surf-Casting Rod. 
 
 mv \ u - ^ff^rjl i i i ■ i ■ ■ " " 
 
 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, Y\ inch; for butt of two-piece rod, }i 
 inch, and for tip, j4 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 SODMAKING 
 
 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 
 
 IF 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 
 6y 2 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, 39^2 inches long. 
 Grasp, 9J^ inches long, inclusive of j4 -mcn 
 reel-seat. Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 
 21-64 an d 13-64. Calibers: at taper, y 2 inch; 
 12 inches from butt, 7-16; 18 inches, 13-32; 
 2 feet, 25-64; iy 2 feet, y s ; 3 feet, 23-64; 
 3J£, 11-32; 4 feet, 5-16; ^/ 2 feet, 19-64; 5 
 feet, 9-32; s J A ^et, 17-64; 6 feet, 34; 6y 2 
 feet, 15-64; 7 feet, 3-16; 73^ feet, 11-64; 8 
 feet, 9-64; $y> feet, y$; 9 feet, 7-64; at top, 
 5-64 inch. 
 
 Medium Weight Fly-Rod. — Length, 93^ 
 feet; joints, 38^ inches. Weight, 6 to 63/2 
 ounces. Grasp, 9^2 inches; reel-seat, }i inch. 
 Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 19-64 and 
 3-16. Calibers: butt joint, at taper, 13-32; 
 
 1 foot from butt, 25-64; Ij4 feet, 23-64; 
 
 2 feet, 11-32; 23/2 feet, 21-64; 3 feet, 19-64. 
 Middle joint, 6 inches, 19-64; 1 foot, 9-32; 
 i J /> feet, 17-64; 2 feet, 15-64; 2j£ feet, 7-32; 
 
 3 feet, 13-64. Tips, 6 inches, 11-64; 1 foot, 
 5-32; ij/ 2 feet, 9-6452 feet, }i;2}i feet, 7-64; 
 
 Trout Fly-Rod. — Length, 9 feet; joints, 
 
BASS AND TROUT FLY-RODS 119 
 
 36^ inches. Weight, 5^2 ounces with ^4-inch 
 metal reel-seat; with reel bands instead, a little 
 less than 5 ounces. Grasp, 9 inches long. 
 Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 9-32 and 11-64 
 inch. Calibers: butt joint, at taper, 7-16; 1 
 foot from butt, 25-64; iy 2 feet, 11-32; 2 feet, 
 21-64; 2J^ feet, 5-16; 3 feet, 19-64. Middle 
 joint, 6 inches, 9-32; 1 foot, 17-64; \y 2 feet, 
 15-64; 2 feet, 7-32; iy 2 feet, 13-64; 3 feet, 
 3-16. Tips, 6 inches, 11-64; x f°°t> 5-32 ; 
 ij4 feet, y s ; 2 feet, 7-64; 2^ feet, 3-32; 
 3 feet, 5-64 inch. 
 
 Split-Bamboo Bass Fly-Rod. 
 
 IHBJriH"-*- 1 ■'■'■'•' h.i. 1 saga 1 1 lAr i 
 
 rafi* 
 
 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 }i of an 
 ounce for metal reel-seats; therefore a rod just 
 
120 AMATEUR BOBMAKING 
 
 under 4J4 ounces will be admitted to the four- 
 ounce class, and one just under 5J4 ounces to 
 the five-ounce class, if each has a metal reel- 
 seat. The length limit is ii l / 2 feet. 
 
 Five-ounce tournament rods are usually 10 
 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 n l / 2 feet, but 
 may be any weight. In the East these seldom 
 weigh more than 103^ ounces and are gener- 
 ally 1 1 feet long, but in the West 1 1 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 ]/ 2 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 y& and J4 i ncn in diameter. The 
 middle joint is heavy and tapers very little at 
 the lower end. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 SALMON FLY-RODS 
 
 SINCE 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 
 
 121 
 
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 ioo 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 113^ 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 
 
 I 3-16. Calibers: 24 inches from butt, at 
 taper, 41-64; 30 inches, % ; 3 feet, 39-64; 3^ 
 feet, 19-32; 4 feet, 37-64; 4^ feet, 35-64. 
 Ferrule, capped, welted, and serrated, \y 2 
 inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule, 2H 
 inches long, 17-32; 6 inches from bottom, 
 17-32; 12 inches, y 2 ; 18 inches, y 2 ; 2 feet, 
 31-64; iy 2 feet, 15-32; 3 feet, 7-16; 3^ feet, 
 13-32; 4 feet, %\ 4^ feet, 11-32; ferrule, 
 capped, welted, and serrated, 2H inches long. 
 Tips: Ferrule, 2^ inches long, 21-64; 6 
 inches, 5-16; 12 inches, 19-64; 18 inches, 
 9-32; 2 feet, 17-64; 2y 2 feet, 15-64; 3 feet, 
 13-64; 3/^ feet, 3-!6; 4 f eet, 11-64; 4>4 feet, 
 9-64; at top, }i 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, J4 inch; 30 inches, 45-64; 
 3 feet, 43-64; 3K f eet, %\ 4 feet, 19-32; 
 4^2 feet, 9-16; ferrule, capped and welted, 3 J4 
 inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule, 2% 
 inches long, 17-32 diameter; 6 inches, 17-32; 
 
126 AMATEUR RODMAKING 
 
 Fifteen-foot Split Bamboo Salmon Rod. 
 — a— ^a— a . . #■ , 
 
 Fourteen-foot Bethabara Salmon Rod. 
 Figure 43- 
 
 i foot, 33-64; 18 inches, 33-64; 2 feet, y ; 2]/ 2 
 feet, 31-64; 3 feet, 15-32; 3^ feet, 27-64; 4 
 feet, 13-32; A.y 2 feet, 25-64; ferrule, capped 
 and welted, 354 inches long. Tips: Ferrule, 
 
 2 inches long, 23-64; 6 inches, n-32; 1 foot, 
 21-64; 18 inches, 5-16; 2 feet, 19-64; iy 2 feet, 
 9-32; 3 feet, y; 3^ feet, 7-32; 4 feet, 3-16; 
 4J4 feet, 5-32; at top, J^ inch. Top, loose 
 steel ring. Guides, same as on bamboo rod. 
 
 Bethabara Salmon Rod. — Length, 14 feet; 
 joints, 5734 inches; weight, 25^ ounces. 
 Handgrasp, same as on other rods. Calibers: 
 24 inches from butt, 51-64; iy 2 feet, 43-64; 
 
 3 feet, 41-64; 3 J /2 feet, 39-64; 4 feet, 37-64; 
 4 J/2 feet, 37-64; ferrule, capped and welted, 
 3J4 inches long. Middle joint: Ferrule, 
 17-32; 6 inches, 17-32; 1 foot, 33-64; 18 
 
SALMON FLY-RODS 127 
 
 inches, J / 2 \ 2 feet, 31-64; iy 2 feet, 15-32; 3 
 feet, 7-16; y/ 2 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, 
 J4; iy 2 feet, 15-64; 3 feet, 7-32; y/ 2 feet, 
 13-64; 4 feet, 11-64; A 1 /* f eet > 9-64; at top, 
 J^ 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 
 
 WHEN 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 7o'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 ROB 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 BOB 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 133 
 
 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 n 
 St. Johns Lane, Clerkenwell, but tradition does not re- 
 cord him as a maker of built-up rods." 
 
134 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, 
 
 II 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 7o'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: 
 
 11 I 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 
 I.anc, New York, who make this a speciality 
 
THE SPLIT BAMBOO ROB 137 
 
 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^ 1 860 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 
 
138 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 baYnboo 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 ROB 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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, 19 12, Dr. Henshall wrote as 
 follows in the Fishing Gazette : 
 
 11 In the first edition of the ' Book of the 
 Black Bass' (1881) . . . the date of 
 Phillipe's first rods was given as 1848, which 
 date was doubted by W. Mitchell, who be- 
 lieved 4 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, an d 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 
 difficult to decipher.' 
 
 * Dr. Wilkinson said in Scribner's Magasine (1876) 
 that in [866 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 tne 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 
 11 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 l Sport With Rod and 
 Gun,' says of this rod: l 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. 
 
 11 Phillipe's son, Solon C. Phillipe, informed 
 me that his father made four-strip rods as 
 early as 1845, an d 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 t0 tne 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 correcdy finished 
 with the bark lying on the outside. 
 
 11 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: 
 
 11 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 1« -ni-r before. . . . 
 Irvine was prond 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 he 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 18 10 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 R0D3IAKIXG 
 
 gether, cut out of the solid part of the large 
 bamboo; the butt is sometimes made of Ash." 
 
 I quote Mr. Marston again: 
 
 II 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 
 k 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 168 1, 
 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 bamboo rods 
 when he says: 
 
THE SPLIT BAMBOO BOD 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 c 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 
 were — sixty or seventy years — but this again 
 is not 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. The 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 
 
 FEW amateurs attempt to make split 
 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 ROD3IAKING 
 
 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 i*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 
 
151 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 i 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 
 
 i r 
 
 Figure 47. 
 Blocks for Beveling Rod Sections. 
 
 in Fig. 47, with the angle of the groove 60 
 degrees. 
 
156 AMATEUR BODMAKING 
 
 I like the grooved board referred to in the 
 crrapter 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 strips, 
 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 \ l / 2 
 
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 
 
 Mil 
 
 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 I4ths, 20ths, 24ths, and 32ds of 
 an inch. As it is tempered steel, you can true 
 up the groove 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 J4 
 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 
 11 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 a,side. 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, iy 2 
 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 ,your steel 
 gauge (Fig. 49). Cut the first groove 15-64, 
 the second 13-64, the third 11-64, an d 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 BODMAKING 
 
 as before, groove them with the saw, and file 
 the grooves. (See Fig. 48.) Make the first 
 one }i 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 
 can 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. 
 
 JnWivriisijjffi: 
 
 IWJWWAWr.JJ- 
 
 Figure 50. Figure 51. Figure 52. 
 
 Single Strip Section, Double Strip Unfinished, end 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. In a 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 beginner 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. L, a veteran angler. I take pleasure in 
 recommending all that he says: 
 
 " If 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 
 2^2 feet long. On one end solder a piece of 
 brass or copper three inches square, for a; 
 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. 
 
 11 I 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 c;lue-tank. 
 The plumber will supply it. Have him put a 
 
SPLIT BAMBOO ROBMAKING 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 sev- 
 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 
 
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 
 
 WHY 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. 
 
SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 173 
 
 Make solid wood rods, if you prefer, for a 
 starter, 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 KODMAKING 
 
 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 — 60 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 freedom 
 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 BODMAKING 
 
 " kicking about the shop " for years, and was, 
 therefore, well seasoned. One was made a 
 trifle over 5 feet long and the other about 2 J / 2 
 feet. The faces of each block are all 2 J / 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 34 i ncn in depth at one end, and l /% 
 inch at the other. Therefore, mark *4 at tne 
 
SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 177 
 
 deep end, and J /s 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 spaced 
 as shown in Fig. 53. 
 
 1 r \ ^ ^ «K »x »\ \ 
 
 Fig- 53- — Maple Block with Grooves Cut on Three 
 Faces. (The caliber marks are merely arbitrary 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 (C C) 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 ]. J 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 
 deep. Therefore, 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 i}i inches. The canes in 
 the shorter bundles are about 3 J / 2 feet long, 
 and their diameter is about i 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 5 J / 2 -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 BO DM AKIN G 
 
 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. There 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 rough- 
 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 RODMAKIXG 
 
 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 ROBMAKING 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 1% inches. If you cannot grind 
 the two irons properly, take them to a grinder 
 and tell him what is wanted. In Fig. $$ 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 plane 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 for 
 tips. 
 
 In all of this work of selection it is a good 
 plan 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 
 
100 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 }i 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 193 
 
 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. i, 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. Holding 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, 
 ami 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 w T hite 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 ij4 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. 
 
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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 
 
 THIS 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 
 been 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 
 
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 ij< 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 arc 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 2 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 Y^ to y 2 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 
 11 band " by winding spirally — each turn about 
 
204 AMATEUR RODMAKIXG 
 
 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- 
 
 Fig. 56. — Method of Attaching Winding at Beginning. 
 
206 AMATEUR BO DM AKIN G 
 
 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 
 
 1 
 
 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 
 
 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 (b 
 
WINDING RODS 
 
 207 
 
 Figure 59. 
 
 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 BODMAKING 
 
 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 foi 
 light fly-rods. It is well to follow this rule 
 
212 AMATEUR RODMAKIXG 
 
 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 00 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 w T ith 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 00 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 00 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 
 
 WHEN 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 andf 
 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 10 
 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 
 sufficient 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 
 
 rii\riiJDKJ\Jr±D door work <md P h y 
 
 <£ Each book deals with a separate subject and deals with it thor- 
 oughly. If you want to know anything about Airedales an OUTING 
 HANDBOOK gives you all you want. If it's Apple Growing, another 
 OUTING HANDBOOK meets your need. The Fisherman, the 
 Camper, the Poultry-raiser, the Automobilist, the Horseman, all 
 varieties of out-door enthusiasts, will find separate volumes for their 
 separate interests. There is no waste space. 
 
 €L The series is based on the plan of one subject to a book and each 
 book complete. The authors are experts. Each book has been 
 specially prepared for this series and all are published in uniform 
 style, flexible cloth binding. 
 
 CL Two hundred titles are projected. The series covers all phases 
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 THE NUMBERS MAKE ORDERING EASY. 
 
 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 them up. He writes 
 in a direct matter-of-fact manner with an avoidance of medical terms, 
 and a strong emphasis on the rational, all-round manner of living 
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 illness or consciousness of bodily weakness. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY-NEW YORK 
 
 2. CAMP COOKERY, by Horace Kephart. "The 
 lees 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 
 game, the building of fires, the cooking of every conceivable kind of 
 food 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. Moody, 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 6oil 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 Principles and Practice of Spraying 
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 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-professionr.i dog 
 fancirr, who wishes common sense advire which does not involve 
 elaborate preparations or expenditure. Chapters are included on the 
 care of the dog in the kennel and simple remedies for ordinary 
 diseases. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 ♦ 6. THE AUTOMOBILE— Its Selection, Care and 
 
 Use, by Robert SI088. This is a plain, practical discussion of 
 the things that every man needs to know if he is to buy the right car 
 and get the most out of it, The various details of operation and 
 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 of the 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 and testing the 
 various rods, 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 in the 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 outfitting 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 JSununi. 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 
 book for the sensible man who wishes to know how he can improve 
 his horses and his horsemanship at the same time. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 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 be9t suited to his particular needs and 
 how to keep it in running condition after purchased. 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 perfected 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 animal or bird tracks. It teaches 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 Method*. 
 such as snapshooting, swing and half-swing, diaCOMei the ilight 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 
 conunonly shot in this country. A ClUipter II included on trap 
 shooting and the book closes v.ith a forceful and common-sense 
 4>rebcntalion of the etiquette of the field. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 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 Charles 
 
 Askins. A practical manual describing various makes and mechan- 
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 the use of the rifle. Treats on the every style and make of rifle 
 as 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- 
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 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 
 fine, 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. 
 
OUT ING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 19. NAVIGATION FOR THE AMATEUR, by Capt. 
 
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 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- 
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 Wild Life. 
 
 21. PACKING AND PORTAGING, by Dillon 
 
 W allace. Mr. Wallace has brought together in one volume all 
 the valuable information on the different ways of making and carry- 
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 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 of 
 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-~fc.enneling— Diieases. 
 
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 
 Various Uses to Which He Can Be Put — are among the phases 
 handled. 
 
 24. SUBURBAN GARDENS, by Grace Tabor. 
 
 Illustrated with diagrams. The author regards the house and 
 grounds as a complete 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." 
 
 25. 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 Wbiting 
 
 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 — 
 Two Cycle Motors. 
 
OUTLXG PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 27. ICE BOATING, by H. L Stone. Illustrated with 
 
 diagrams. Here have been brought lOgether 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 II. 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 of intensive methods 
 in agriculture. This book is designed for the convenienee of prac- 
 tical farmers who find themselves under the necessity of makmg a 
 living out of high-priced land. 
 
 30. PRACTICAL DOG BREEDING, by Williams 
 Hayne9. This is a companion volume to FRACTICAL DOG 
 KEEPING, described below. It goes at length into the . 
 mental questions of breeding, such as selection of types on both 
 Bides, the perpetuation of desirable, and the elimination < f i 
 
 able, qualities, the value of prepotency in building npad 
 breed, etc. The arguments are illustrated with instances of 
 has been accomplished, both good and bad, in the case of well- 
 known breed-. 
 
 31. PRACTICAL DOG KEEPING, by \. 
 Haynes. Mr.IIaynesi* well known to the reader* of the < H TING 
 HWDBOOKS as the author of books on the terriers, l 1 
 book is somewhat more ambitions in that it carries 1 im inl 
 general field jring and Bellina of 
 
 the care of dogs in kenni Is* handling Lb b 
 
 and at Me length into inch sub; eding, 
 
 exen . •■ an I 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 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. 
 
 Illustrated. 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, salmon, etc., with full instructions for wind- 
 ing, varnishing, etc, 
 
 34. PISTOL AND REVOLVER SHOOTING, by A. 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 given in the use of both revolver 
 and target pistol, including shooting position, grip, position of arm, etc. 
 The book is thoroughly illustrated with diagrams and photographs 
 and includes the rules 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 construction of houses, the care of the birds, pre- 
 paration for market, and shipment. Descriptions of the various 
 breeds with their markings and characteristics are given. Illustrated 
 with photographs and diagrams. 
 
 36. FISHING TACKLE, by Perry D. Frazer. Il- 
 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. Illustrated. Tells the plain truth about the little 
 things that every motorist want9 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 
 car? Then you will find this book useful. 
 
 38. THE FOX HOUND, by Roger D. Williams. 
 Author of "Horse and Hound". Illustrated. 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 the 
 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, amber- 
 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 6idc Stroke, tin* 
 crawl, the trudgeon, the breast stroke, swimming on the bs* 
 
 iding v ith a chapter on speed swimming and training for rae- 
 I T ig. It covers the whole field of natation in ■ clear, simple n 
 with photographs showing each Btl 
 
 BOAT AND CANOE BUILDING, by Victor 
 
 Slocum. All of us like to think we could bnild a boat if v 
 t-j. Mr. Slocum tells OS how to do it. .iven for the 
 
 various types of canoes as well as full descriptions for preparing the 
 material and putting it together. Small dories and lapatreak boats 
 are also indua*" 1 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 43. PRACTICAL PROSPECTING, by Charles 
 
 Johnson Post. Illustrated. 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. BOXING, by D. C. Hutchison. Practical in- 
 
 etruction 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 fall 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 construction but gives the approximate power needed for 
 different boats and the calculations necessary to find this figure. 
 
 47. TAXIDERMY, by Leon L. Pray. Illustrated with 
 
 diagrams. Being a practical taxidermist, the author at once goes into 
 the question of selection 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 one3, such as 
 ordinary birds, small mammals, etc., although adequate instructions 
 are included for mounting big game specimens, as well as the pre- 
 liminary care of skins in hot climates. Full diagrams accompany 
 the text. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMi ANY— NEW YORK 
 
 48. THE CANOE— ITS SELECTION, CARE AND 
 USE, by Robert E. Pinkerton. Illustrated with photographs. 
 With proper use the canoe is one of the safests crafts that floats. 
 Mr. Pinkerton tells how that 6tate of safety may be obtained. Ue 
 gives full instructions for the selection of the right canoe for each 
 
 Particular purpose or set of conditions. Then he tells how it should 
 e 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. 
 
 Illustrated 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 basis is the methods followed in the 
 West and in the 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 only 
 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. Gaudy. 
 
 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. 
 
 Illustrated. 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 logs 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 leaf! effort. Nothing is so easy when you know how — or 
 so hard when you don't. This hook describes the process in detail 
 from the first day on the ice to the high<->t development of 
 ■peed nn.l fancy skating. The author is familiar with the late t 
 developments in I Surope where figure skating has been carried to 
 a much higher point than in America.