TOOLS NEEDED 73 



Now, take a piece of brass and by sawing 

 first and trimming with a file afterward, form 

 a slot 4^ inches deep, 15-32 inch wide at the 

 top, and 7-64 inch wide at the bottom. Every 

 half inch scratch a line across and mark these 

 6, 12, etc., with a sharp-pointed instrument. 

 This will serve as a gauge for uniform taper- 

 ing. 



If, however, you have decided what the 

 caliber of your rod is to be at every six-inch 

 station, you can utilize a piece of brass with 

 ten square notches filed in its edges, the largest 

 being 15-32 inch and the smallest 7-64, every 

 notch to be equal in width to the caliber of the 

 rod at the corresponding station. These can 

 be numbered from 6 to 54, respectively, in half 

 feet. 



For smoothing off rough places on metal fit- 

 tings, taking the sharp corners off guides and 

 many other little details, a fine three-cornered 

 file will be very useful. I prefer the needle file 

 because it will fit into a loop in the cover of 

 my fly-book, and it can be used in lieu of a 

 saw on occasion. A file of this sort is about 

 six inches long, flat on one side, and slightly 

 convex on the other. Its width is about one- 

 eighth inch in the center, tapering to a fine 



