REPAIR KITS AND METHODS 135 



administered. I once ruined a fine and expensive 

 fly-rod tip by not taking care of it. Was in camp 

 for two weeks of rainy weather, employing one rod 

 and tip though I had other rods and a second tip for 

 the rod used, a matter which any rod-lover can 

 understand. One day the sections of bamboo let 

 go water had seeped in and the tip "folded." As 

 I write that loved tip hangs above my desk, a con- 

 stant admonition to shellac and varnish. 



What caster has not picked up his rod in the 

 spring, or after a long dry spell in mid-summer, only 

 to find the ferrules loose? That one should never 

 attempt to cast with a rod with loose ferrules goes 

 without saying. The first step in repairing is to 

 remove the ferrules. If loose and un-pinned that is 

 an easy matter. When you have your new rod made,, 

 ask the maker to leave out the ferrule-pins; they 

 serve no good purpose and often are vexatious bits 

 of metal. If your rod is supplied with pins, you must 

 find and remove them; it is the first step. About the 

 only way is to push the pins in so that the ferrule will 

 slip over, usually it is next to impossible to get hold 

 of them and extract. 



The ferrules removed, clean away all the old 

 cement. Warm the end of the rod, the ferrule first 

 to be set, and the cement. The flame of a match 

 will do. Now apply the cement to the end of the 

 rod and pass the flaming match up and down, turn- 

 ing the rod the while until the cement is evenly dis- 



