VARNISHING AND FINISHING 193 



drying day; but spar varnish should be given a day 

 or two between coats before any attempt is made 

 at rubbing-down. Varnished work will dry quickest 

 out-of-door, in clear, dry weather and a brisk wind; 

 but in order to escape the dust as much as possible, 

 your rod-joints must be hung up inside for at least 

 the first four or five hours, until dried dust proof; 

 and hang them well away from the wall, else the 

 varnish may " creej}." 



It is the practise of the author to apply five or six 

 coats of varnish, in all, after the following manner: 

 First, two thin applications, as explained above, 

 given with circular or oblique strokes around the 

 joint; two additional coats covering all, flowed on 

 carefully and evenly by brushing in long, quick 

 strokes lengthwise of the joint. We then have the 

 silk sufficiently protected to permit of rubbing the 

 varnish down without injury to the windings. This 

 we now proceed to do, lightly and cautiously this 

 first time and with increasing vigor after each of 

 the succeeding two or three coats. 



Some would object to so many coats of varnish 

 on the ground of their being deleterious to the action 

 of the rod. We think that such criticism is alto- 

 gether theoretical, and that a much more practical 

 point is that moisture penetrating the rod-wrappings 

 and the pores of the bamboo is the great foe to the 

 life of the rod and to the maintenance of its elastic- 

 ity, and that a generous coating of the right kind 



