OVERHAULING 25 



if handled with ordinary care. With one of 

 these files the barbs of hooks may be sharp- 

 ened when they are dull, and so keen is the 

 edge of the file that you can cut through brass 

 and copper wire as with a delicate saw, and 

 small repairs call for a file of this sort. 



Rough places on guides, reel-seats or ferrules 

 may be smoothed without scratching the pol- 

 ished surface, though it is well to finish up with 

 a tiny piece of the finest grade of crocus cloth, 

 to insure a good polish. Powdered tripoli, used 

 by machinists for buffing, etc., is also excellent 

 for polishing. Oil a piece of chamois skin, then 

 coat it lightly with tripoli, and you have a good 

 hand polisher for rusted hooks, tarnished troll- 

 ing spoons, rod fittings, and reels. The tripoli 

 will polish without scratching, but for obstinate 

 cases flour emery in oil may be used. Dry em- 

 ery cuts too rapidly for any polished surface. 

 Powdered chalk is another good medium for 

 polishing metal. Use crude petroleum with it, 

 and also with tripoli. Crude oil cleans and is a 

 very handy thing to have in the tackle-box. Keep 

 it in one of the little metal tubes previously 

 referred to. 



