PLANING THE STRIPS 81 



surface of the mold are helpful after the planing- 

 iron begins to hug it closely. 



The writer has found it sufficient for the produc- 

 tion of accurate joints, to finish his strips entirely 

 with the plane, except perhaps in the case of tops 

 for the lighter fly-rods. He finishes these by scrap- 

 ing them lengthwise with discarded safety-razor 

 blades, an ordinary razor-blade removed from its 

 handle, a scissors blade, chisel, planing-iron, or a 

 common jack-knife. Of file or sand-paper he makes 

 no use at this stage of the work. In making his 

 lighter top-joints, he very carefully takes off just the 

 feather-edge at the junction of the inner sides of the 

 strips, so that there shall be no question about their 

 pushing home at the center of the joint when glu- 

 ing up; for this delicate work the safety-razor blade 

 is just the thing. 



It now is time for the details of the metal plan- 

 ing- or finishing-mold itself, and the manner of 

 its adjustment for getting out joints of the definite 

 length and taper desired for the rod that it is deter- 

 mined upon to build. This is very simply con- 

 structed of two four-foot bars of %-inch cold-rolled 

 steel, and it can be made at any machine-shop at mod- 

 erate expense. The illustrations herewith will fully 

 explain exactly what is wanted, and the machinist 

 must be cautioned that the beveled edges must be 

 absolutely true, in order correctly to form our sixty- 



