The Angler’s Workshop. 
Fishing Rod Making for the Beginner 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
IX. — Split-Bamboo Rods — Continued. 
W HEN your strips are finished, their glassy 
surfaces may seem to be poor holding 
ground for glue, and you may be 
;empted to roughen them. This is a mistake, 
ro satisfy yourself, wet one of the surfaces 
slightly and after it has dried, pass your finger 
Dver it. You will find the grain raised enough to 
prove that this will be taken care of by the hot 
glue. 
Fit a set of six strips together and wind them 
spirally with thread, so that they will all be in 
perfect contact. Examine all parts carefully and 
see that the pith sides come together through¬ 
out, and that no strip sinks below its proper 
plane, as it will do if its taper is not the same 
as that of the other strips. In this case a new 
strip must be made to replace it. Cheap rods 
are -often corrected for this fault by winding 
FIG 44. 
FIG. 45. 
a narrow piece of paper spirally around the 
imperfect place in the strip, then removing the 
paper from the surface after gluing, but this is 
not to be recommended, as you would regret it 
later on, perhaps by the seam opening. Gauge 
carefully the taper of the assembled strips and 
mark all places that need further reducing. 
In a preceding chapter I said that double 
enamel rods are excellent if carefully made. In 
working thin-walled cane this system has some 
points of excellence, and the amateur who is 
skilled with the plane and the file can work 
it nicely, especially for butts and middle joints. 
Square up the rough stock and match two 
strips with reference to the knots. Decide 
which is to be the surface strip and plane it to 
rectangular section, with the rind on the bot¬ 
tom. Do not touch the rind. Now plane the 
second or inner strip to match, but file off just 
enough of the rind in the center to make a glue 
joint, it being remembered that the convex rind 
of the inner strip cannot otherwise be glued 
to the pith side of the outer strip. Glue the 
strips together, wind with cord, place under a 
weight or clamp together- until dry. In section 
your double enamel strip will be like Fig. 45, 
while Fig. 46 shows the sectional view of a 
finished strip. It is best to make the outer strip 
thinner than the inner one, as in this way the 
maximum of rind is obtained. 
It must be understood that in filing the rind 
of the inner strip, only a very small portion of 
its center is to be removed. This will affect 
the strip very little when the two are glued 
together. 
It is not advisable for the beginner to try this 
method on tips until he has mastered the less 
complicated hexagonal work, if at all. 
When your assembled strips are ready for 
gluing, warm them while heating the glue, and 
for each set of strips have ready a piece of 
strong thread. You can glue the strips with 
another person’s assistance. To do this glue a 
few inches at a time, your assistant keeping them 
separated for the purpose. Wind them spirally, 
glue a few more inches, wind again, and so on 
until finished, then wind back to the place of 
beginning. Whatever the method, pass the 
strips over a flame before pressing them into 
contact, in order to be sure the glue is hot, and 
after the strips have been wound in one direc¬ 
tion they can be again passed over a flame, then 
the reverse winding complected. I prefer to use 
the best French glue, applying it with a flat 
brush while very hot. Before using fresh glue 
I soak it over night in cold water. It should 
be quite thin. 
months at least. Tournament rods should sea¬ 
son even longer, for they are put to the severest 
tests. 
Glued joints should be left in a warm room 
When the stock is dry the double spiral wind¬ 
ings are taken off and the surplus glue removed, 
then the bamboo is rubbed very lightly with the 
finest sandpaper and the corners rounded 
slightly. It is then ready for handgrasp and 
ferrules. I prefer _ to rub lightly with varnish 
and let thjs dry before winding. Split or ser¬ 
rated ferrules should be used on bamboo rods 
in preference to the ordinary capped ferrules, 
and in fitting these only the corners of the bam¬ 
boo should be removed. 
To recapitulate: In order to lead from step 
to step without a break I have tried to describe 
how the butt and tips of a two-piece rod may 
be made. It naturally follows that a three-piece 
or a one-piece rod is made in the same fashion, 
the depth of the grooves in your little block 
varying to accord with the caliber of the rod- 
to-be. 
I would, however, advise you to make several 
experimental sections of cane before attempting 
full length strips; in other words, to practice 
with short pieces until you master first princi¬ 
ples. 
In order to do this, make your six inch block 
(Fig. 42) first of all. Take some rejected strips 
a foot or two in length and bevel and finish 
them with great care, having in mind a certain, 
taper and following this religiously. It is sur¬ 
prising how quickly this will teach you the nice¬ 
ties of the system. The short pieces will be 
handy to fit and glue together, and later on you 
can saw them in two and inspect their ends to 
see just how your work turns out. You can also 
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Q r 
Tor 
Tarpon Rod. 
B 
Surf Casting Rod. 
aic~ess i i 1 
Light Salt Water Rod. 
FIG. 47. 
Now sight along each strip alternately and 
correct the natural tendency to twist spirally. 
Rolling in the hands while gluing will partially 
correct this. Fasten the glued stock on a board 
or a rod by winding loosely around both, to 
prevent warping. 
until thoroughly dry. A month is not too long, 
and the best rodmakers dislike to let rods go 
out of their shops if the stock has had less than 
four months to dry and harden. As a rule they 
glue their stock in the autumn and make up 
rods from it the following spring, these rods 
being kept out of the anglers’ hands for six 
determine which glue seems best. Go even 
further and keep these sample pieces to see how 
much you have improved in your work from 
time to time. 
Silt Water Rods. 
The best type of rod for salt water fishing is 
the long tip and separate handgrasp. This ap¬ 
plies to all rods used in sea fishing, whether for 
tarpon, tuna, striped bass, weakfish or small fry, 
the length and weight depending on the kind of 
fish angled for. 
By using the separate handgrasp, the joint 
