WINDING RODS 213 



will darken the silk. Twist this piece of silk 

 in the opposite direction to that followed in 

 its manufacture, so that the strands will sepa- 

 rate, and hold them apart until each one of 

 the three can be removed and laid aside. Now 

 take up one of the strands and wax it thor- 

 oughly. It will remain a trifle kinky, but that 

 will not matter. After it is waxed, it will 

 cease trying to snarl up, as at first, and you 

 will have a really strong thread of silk floss 

 much softer than the three-ply strand from 

 which it was taken. Try it on the thin tip 

 of a fly-rod, and you will notice that in wind- 

 ing it will lie flat and spread out a trifle, like 

 a ribbon, while it will not look so lumpy, even 

 as a thread of OO silk, and after the rod has 

 been varnished the windings will be very neat 

 and workmanlike 



It is obvious that this thread is not as 

 strong as three-ply, and it should be tested to 

 determine how much strain it will bear with- 

 out breaking. It is stronger, however, than 

 would be supposed, and I have wound a fly- 

 rod tip with separated strands of O without 

 breaking more than three all told; so that the 

 A strands will give little trouble on this score 

 if properly waxed. 



Of course, in employing this method, you 

 cannot work from the spool, but must cut off 



