ROD-MAKING. 44.9 



ago explained to me, by a few strokes of his pencil, how the 

 soft inner part of cane or bamboo could be got rid of, and 

 the hard elastic exterior only used, gluing four strips 

 together side by side, and producing what he called a quarter- 

 section tip, or what English rod-makers term a "rent and 

 glued" tip. He also made the simple tool represented below, 

 in which are united what may be called a " V tool" and a 

 " draw-plate." It is made of thin steel, and tempered very 

 hard. 



\/" 



o O o O O O 



The notch in the end and top of the plate are true right 

 angles, with a cutting or rather a scraping edge; the holes 

 also have scraping edges. When this implement is screwed 

 in a vice, by drawing a piece of split cane through the V, 

 with the outer surface of the cane uppermost, the soft inner 

 part is scraped off; and when four such pieces have been 

 reduced to the required size, and glued together, a section 

 presents the appearance of figure G on the next wood-cut, 

 the softer part of each strip coming together in the centre. 

 The corners of G are then rounded off with a file, and to 

 make each glued piece more truly round than an amateur can 

 generally file them, they are still further reduced by draw- 

 ing them through a hole of appropriate size in the plate, when 

 the end of a piece will present the appearance of figure H in 

 the next wood-cut. 



To be more explicit, and to insure a neater job, I will go 

 over the ground again, and describe minutely my own way 

 of making a four-sectioned tip. Take a piece of Malacca 

 29 



