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. 



