44 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



CHAPTER II. 



HOW FISH-HOOKS ARE MADE. 



THE belief that an account of how fish-hooks are made 

 will interest some of my readers, has induced me after 

 some hesitation to include the following description. 



Though special machines are now largely used, still 

 the old hand process is at the foundation of all. A 

 statement of this, therefore, will be at once more profit- 

 able and easily understood. 



Round steel wire in coil is mounted on a reel; the 

 outer end is thrust through a hole until it encounters a 

 stop, and can go no farther ; then down comes a cutter, 

 and cuts off a length. As long as the cutter and stop 

 work at a fixed distance from each other, so long, of 

 course, will the wire be cut in uniform lengths (see Fig. 

 8). It will also be clear that by varying the position of 

 the stop in reference to the cutter, the length of the pro- 

 duced piece can be varied. 



During the time occupied in reading the preceding 

 paragraph, you may imagine several lengths have been 

 cut. 



Next in order comes the formation of the barb. A 

 length of wire, cut as aforesaid, is laid upon a small 

 block of iron provided with a stop, against which the 

 end of the wire abuts. The workman is armed with a 

 tool such as is shown in the illustration (Fig. 9), in which 

 a represents a wooden handle ; b an iron rod or shank ; 



