Rods and Rod Material. 203 



Both of these yielded good results. But having at that 

 time adopted, and intending in the future to adhere to, 

 one fixed size for my ferrules, so that my joints and tips 

 should be interchangeable, the object sought was to so 

 stiffen these two woods that a reduction to the standard 

 diameter, without excessive reduction in length, would be 

 possible. As far as this was concerned they were a fail- 

 ure, and were consequently dropped. Then flat steel 

 hoop-skirt wire was substituted for the bamboo. This 

 experiment gave me more trouble than any in my experi- 

 ence of rod-making; for not only was the construction of 

 a special plane first necessary to channel out the very 

 narrow grooves to receive the flat wire edgewise, but 

 some kind of a guide had to be devised to direct the 

 channel down the exact centre of the stick, and this af- 

 ter the stick had been tapered, since when the tempered 

 steel was in position planing was at an end. But the gain 

 in stiffness and strength did not compensate for the in- 

 creased weight. The rod, to my hand, felt top-heavy and 

 unpleasant. 



This latter effort is mentioned that, should another ex- 

 periment in the same direction, he may profit by and 

 avoid my mistakes. It is to be understood that the flat 

 steel strip was set into the wood edgewise, and so that its 

 upper edge was flush with the surface. I used a strip of 

 even width, supposing that, since the taper of the wood 

 would separate the four steel strips farther and farther 

 apart, this would graduate the stiffness nicely and in the 

 desired manner on the principle of the truss. This 

 turned out to be an error, and to him who feels dis- 

 posed to venture in this direction is offered the advice to 

 taper the width of his strips with a file before insertion. 

 Gutta-percha gum, either alone or, if on cooling it does 



