The Angler’s Workshop. 
Fishing Rod Making for the Beginner 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
V.—Rodmaking and Finishing Materials Continued. 
r HE best varnish I have ever used on rods of 
all kinds is known as extra light coach. It 
comes in cans of all sizes fitted with air 
ight tin caps. It is better to get the smallest size, 
uarter pint, as when repeatedly exposed to the 
ir it dries slowly unless thinned with turpentine, 
nd this color makers invariably advise you not 
o do, as the thinning agency detracts from its 
ood qualities. Instead it should be heated in a 
essel of hot water. This varnish is elastic, does 
ot crack, and dries quickly with a beautiful gloss 
f used while quite warm. 
Spar varnish is also good, but several coats 
f it are required, it lacks lustre, and dries slowly 
nless exposed to sun and wind. 
Purchase a three-quarter inch oval or flat brush 
f good quality for the varnish, and a thin round 
rtist’s brush for the shellac. Both should be 
/ashed carefully immediately after being used in 
ot water and soap, then dried and laid away 
'Ut of the dust. 
Amateur fishing rod makers experience diffi- 
'ulty in obtaining silk of suitable sizes for wind- 
lg their rods. Those w T ho live in small towns 
fig. 25. 
Micrometer Caliper. 
an only obtain size A or larger, which is too 
barse for fly-rods and for the slender bait-cast- 
ig rods used so much in bass fishing and in 
aurnament casting. No silk finer than A is car- 
ied by dry goods firms, but in this size every 
naginable color and shade may be had. 
To be sure some of the fishing tackle dealers 
arry O and 00 in red, green, yellow and black; 
ut if one is particular and asks for a certain 
hade, the dealer does not always have it, and 
le next shade may prove disappointing if you 
appen to have part of your winding finished and 
esire a shade that will match nicely. The whole- 
lie silk houses will not sell to an individual in 
nail lots as a rule, although they may some- 
roes condescend to let him have a given num- 
er of spools. No amateur could possibly use 
quantity of silk, even if he were to wind every 
ne of his rods solidly with it, and after several 
isappointments he is likely to fall back on A, 
yen if it does finish up in lumps and welts that 
re not in keeping with the careful work he has 
ut on the other details of his rod. 
There is one advantage in size A, however: 
every little store handling dry goods carries all 
colors and every shade that will match dress 
goods of silk, cotton dr wool. If you have never 
noticed this, ask a saleswoman for a spool of 
green silk, and she will show you a score or 
more, and every one a different shade of green. 
No wonder you cannot buy silk by mail that will 
suit you, merely by naming a color. How this 
size can be split and used for all windings is 
described further on. 
In selecting silk there is always the tempta¬ 
tion to purchase more than you can ever use 
or give away, particularly shades that will dis¬ 
appoint you if wound on the rod and varnished. 
There are certain combinations that do not give 
the barber-pole effect so many anglers object to, 
yet are durable as to color. Black is a hideous 
color for a nice rod, but it looks well as borders 
for yellow or orange. Some shades of yellow 
lose all color under the varnish, and cream color 
becomes semi-transparent, and is often employed 
for that very reason. Blue, lilac and pale red 
fade rapidly when exposed to the sun, and pur¬ 
ple, often seen on some rods, is not always last¬ 
ing. Bright or flame red and medium apple green 
are generally satisfactory, but their brillancy de¬ 
pends a great deal on what sort of varnish pro¬ 
tects them from the wearing of the line in casting 
—particularly on a fly-rod. 
In addition to the winding silk, purchase a tiny 
spool of buttonhole silk of any color, to be used 
in pulling the ends of the winding silk through 
and forming “endless” windings. Its use is ex¬ 
plained in the proper place. 
A spool of cotton or linen thread is also handy 
for use in tying guides on temporarily while test¬ 
ing your rods. If it is waxed it will be much 
more effective. I use linen for this purpose, 
fastening the guides in place with it while align¬ 
ing them, then cutting the thread when the guide 
is partly fastened with silk. 
Tools Needed in Rodmaking. 
In preparing to make a fishing rod, after the 
wood and metal parts have been obtained, the 
next thing to consider is a workbench. If one 
is not at hand, and you do not know any car¬ 
penter or mechanic who will let you use his 
bench at odd times, a makeshift will answer. If 
a bit of plank can be laid across a table and 
secured against wobbling, it will serve. 
Of course a large iron vise will be very use¬ 
ful, but if this is not available, one of the little 
iron vises to be had in hardware stores for a 
dollar or less will answer very well; in fact, 
you cannot afford to be without one if you arc 
fond of making and repairing small articles. 
The tools you will require are few and simple. 
At least two iron planes will be needed, one of 
medium size and the other very small, say four 
inches long, for finishing. Get a small oilstone 
in a wooden case, and never neglect to clean it 
carefully and wrap it in a cloth after using it, 
as otherwise its pores will become clogged with 
gummed oil and dust, rendering it worse than 
useless. 
You will need one rather coarse flat file, say 
fourteen inches long, and a fine flat or three- 
cornered file, the latter preferred for split bam¬ 
boo work. Also get a sheet of fine emery cloth; 
coarse, medium and fine sandpaper; a small, 
thin saw; a flat steel scraper. A drill stock and 
several small drills are always useful. 
Calipers of some sort are necessary. The best 
obtainable is the micrometer caliper registering 
thousandths of an inch, with scales showing 
equivalents in 8ths, i6ths, 32ds and 64ths. One 
of these costs about $4, but its graduations are 
so fine that it is useful in other work as well 
as in rodmaking, and is almost indispensable for 
the angler who wishes to obtain exact calibers 
of rods, lines, silkworm gut, etc. These calipers 
are made by several firms, and all are of the 
form illustrated in Fig. 25. The size which is 
graduated in thousandths, and will take work 
up to an inch in diameter, is best for your pur¬ 
pose. 
The next best caliper is the one shown in Fig. 
26, or a similar device with sliding arm and 
scale graduated to 64ths and opening two inches. 
This is the most practical caliper for the begin¬ 
ner, as it is simple and small. Its cost is about 
$1.50. It has a lock nut and the reverse side 
gives iooths of an inch. 
A much cheaper gauge is made of brass and 
boxwood, similar in form to Fig. 26. One of 
these will answer very well, although the gradua¬ 
tions are coarser than those of the other calipers 
mentioned. 
There are several devices that are used by 
som& amateur rod builders which are not abso¬ 
lutely necessary, but they are handy and can be 
made to take the place of calipers at times. 
You will not make your rod a true taper from 
handgrasp to tip, but it will help you to know 
how to do this, for the tapering of the square 
stock can be made nearly uniform at first, in 
the rough. 
Take a piece of cardboard and draw two 
straight lines 4 l / 2 inches long, 15-32 of an inch 
apart at one end and 7-64 of an inch at the other. 
This represents a uniform taper from the hand- 
grasp to the top of a 5 J 4 foot rod. Mark off 
spaces every half inch to represent every six 
