Rod-making. 253 



self by the principles already given for making your 

 joints. In the former case, the hole to receive the han- 

 dle ferrule or its support should be bored first, and the 

 handle turned on it as a centre, that it may surely coin- 

 cide with the axis of the handle. 



After the handle is shaped, and sand-papered nicely, 

 wet it and let it dry. This will roughen it " raise the 

 grain," as it is termed. Now take the finest sand-paper 

 you have, not coarser than "0," and smooth it again. 

 Repeat this three or four times, using the same piece of 

 sand-paper. Then when dry, varnish with shellac dis- 

 solved in alcohol; giving it three or four coats, applied 

 at about three - hour intervals. When this is perfectly 

 hard, rub it down to the bare wood with powdered 

 pumice-stone and raw linseed-oil, applied with a rag. 

 This will stuff the grain. Then apply three or four more 

 coats of shellac and rub it down in the same manner 

 till all brush-marks are removed, and it is perfectly 

 smooth. Then polish, first with powdered rotten-stone 

 and the same oil, and afterwards with dry rotten-stone. 

 This will give a nice durable finish. 



The form given the grasp of the handle of the rod is 

 more than a mere matter of appearance. A grasp which 

 from its shape will so anchor within the hand as to slip 

 neither way even when loosely held, would seem best to 

 meet the conditions of use. Having habitually used an 

 independent handle on my rods for over twenty years, 

 and having the facilities and inclination to experiment, 

 I have made and tried almost every promising style of 

 handle I could hear, see, or think of. The opinion de- 

 duced from these experiments is that the plain cylindri- 

 cal grasp is the worst, and that that shown in Figs. 43 

 and 44 is the best I have tried ; and I am confirmed in 



