MAKING, REPAIRING AND CARING FOR TACKLE. 213 



thing more with it. When dry, give the entire rod, wrap- 

 pings and all, but not the metal parts, another coat of var- 

 nish, and hang away to dry. A small varnish brush usually 

 accompanies each bottle of varnish, but if you don't get this 

 you must buy a small camel's hair brush. This last varnish- 

 ing finishes the rod, but another coat will do no harm. Each 

 must be perfectly dry before applying another. 



When you buy fishing rod wood it is likely to be 

 warped, especially bethaibara. In such cases, before you do 

 anything with it, just drive a small tack into the end, the 

 center, and hang the stick up in a room, and in a few days 

 it will be straight. If not, hang a weight on the butt and 

 that will straighten it. Always hang your rod up after var- 



Construction of Separate Handles. 



nishing and let it dry that way, and keep the room as even a 

 temperature as you can. Never hang the rod near the wall 

 while the varnish is wet. 



In case you want to make the butt piece of the same 

 kind of wood as the other joints, it is best to have this piece 

 fitted into a handle of lighter wood. The rod should be 

 cemented in and should be seated about four inches into the 

 handle. In such cases the 23/4 inch taper from reel seat to 

 rod proper is omitted and a very short taper is used. This 

 has a German silver taper fitted over it, thus hiding the 

 joint. If you like you can get a solid metal reel seat (Ger- 

 ni?tn silver) with a tapered end which covers the joint com- 

 pletely and makes a very nice appearing rod. 



