Chapter X: Rod-Making: Varnishing and Finishing

The prime requisites of a good rod-varnish are that it should possess a maximum degree of elasticity and form an efficient protecting coat against the penetration of moisture into the pores of the bamboo. A varnish that dries too hard chips easily and soon will crack under the repeated flexion of the rod. A “special” rod-varnish need not be sought, as the specifications are met in any of the best brands of _spar_ varnish, put up by a number of the bigger varnish houses, such as Berry, Crockett, or Murphy. The author has more recently used Valentine’s “Valspar.”

Varnishing should be done in dry weather, preferably on a clear, snappy day, or on a warm day with little humidity. If this is not sufficiently explicit, have your wife or sweetheart pick out for you what she says is a good wash-day. And you should varnish indoor, in a warm room with air as free as possible from floating dust particles. A small camel’s-hair or ox-hair brush, of the kind that we used for gluing (the same brush will do, if it was thoroughly cleaned), suits our present purpose likewise.

As already has been mentioned, the writer applies the first, diamond windings and the initial coat of varnish soon after the rod-joints are glued up and dry. No attempt then is made to flow it on, but care is taken to have it worked thoroughly into and around all of the silk-windings, using short strokes of the brush in all directions. For this coat, the varnish may advantageously be thinned with turpentine--but _not adding more than twenty per-cent_--for better penetration of the silk; and likewise for the second application, which includes only the solid-wrappings about the guides and ferrule-ends, etc. When at this take care not to gum up the exposed metal parts. Dilute the varnish but little, if at all, for the subsequent coats. To insure a good flow, _have it warm while in use_, by standing its container in hot water.

A satisfactory way of keeping varnish for future use, after the original can has been opened, is to transfer it to a wide-mouthed bottle, which must be kept tightly corked; to be on the safe side against evaporation and thickening, cover the exposed part of the cork with melted paraffine.

Spar varnish being an elastic varnish, dries neither as hard nor as soon as does coach or cabinet varnish; some kinds of the latter may be rubbed within a few hours following a fresh application on a good drying day; but spar varnish should be given a day or two between coats before any attempt is made at rubbing-down. Varnished work will dry quickest out-of-door, in clear, dry weather and a brisk wind; but in order to escape the dust as much as possible, your rod-joints must be hung up inside for at least the first four or five hours, until dried dust proof; and hang them well away from the wall, else the varnish may “creep.”

It is the practise of the author to apply five or six coats of varnish, in all, after the following manner: First, two thin applications, as explained above, given with circular or oblique strokes around the joint; two additional coats covering all, flowed on carefully and evenly by brushing in long, quick strokes lengthwise of the joint. We then have the silk sufficiently protected to permit of rubbing the varnish down without injury to the windings. This we now proceed to do, _lightly and cautiously this first time_ and with increasing vigor after each of the succeeding two or three coats.

Some would object to so many coats of varnish on the ground of their being deleterious to the action of the rod. We think that such criticism is altogether theoretical, and that a much more practical point is that _moisture_ penetrating the rod-wrappings and the pores of the bamboo is the great foe to the life of the rod and to the maintenance of its elasticity, and that a generous coating of the right kind of varnish furnishes the surest protection against this.

To rub down, use powdered rotten-stone--from drug or paint store--on a small square of canvas, or felt from an old soft hat, wet with cold water; this makes a fine brown mud with which you scrub the joints lengthwise between the thumb and fingers of one hand, while the other twirls the joint to and fro. When the rubbing is completed, rinse the joint thoroughly with cold water squeezed out of a small fine sponge. It is a good plan to let the water run with force, directly from the tap, on the parts about the guides. Complete the cleaning by wiping with the sponge just damp. Then wipe with a dry soft cloth and swish the joint a few times in the air completely to dry it. Have it _perfectly dry before applying any more varnish_, and be sure that the rotten-stone is thoroughly cleaned with a bit of rag from under and around the guides. Powdered pummice-stone and water may be used for rubbing the varnish coats that follow the first use of the rotten-stone; but at the first attempt at finishing a rod, perhaps you had best confine yourself to the rotten-stone.

In finishing the cedar handgrasp or any cedar parts, follow the filing and coarse sandpapering by using number 1 paper, then number 0, rotating the grasp forcibly between a fold of the paper held tightly in the palm of the left hand. After a good smooth surface is obtained, apply water with a sponge, to raise the grain of the wood; when dry, make a second application of fine sandpaper and elbow-grease; give now two coats of varnish; rub down with pummice-stone and water; apply a third coat of varnish; rub with the wet rotten-stone or with linseed oil and rotten-stone; give a fourth and last coat of varnish, very lightly.

For the last finishing-touches both on joints and handgrasp, rub with a bunch of curled horsehair (see the upholsterer), then with a little “Three-in-One” oil applied with a soft rag, then with a buckskin glove or piece of chamois-skin or felt, then with an old silk-handkerchief; and in conclusion, apply as much hand-friction with the heel of your palm as your inclination and perseverance will allow. The ultimate result is that you have produced on all a smooth but not glassy finish, that is not dulled by handling the rod--whose subdued luster is very durable. The whole rod now requires but an occasional rubbing with the silk-handkerchief and a few drops of oil, and the application of a single light coat of varnish about every second season if used regularly.

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At last, my Brother of the Angle, your rods are completed in every fascinating detail--and if they do not appear as the illustrations depict, and are not a delight to your eye and a joy to your hand, it is not because the writer has failed to tell you, so far as mind can recall, every blamed thing that he knows about this business. Suspend them from the tip, safe from the kiddies’ curious investigations, feast your eyes soulfully upon their charms, and, upon occasion, you even may take them down and fondle them lovingly; then, when the first feathered harbingers of the coming Spring begin their blithesome twitterings--and not till then--haste you now to rig them up and experience that exquisite thrill of their feel in action, as you test them out on the nearest piece of greensward, if a suitable stretch of water be not conveniently accessible. And you now may say, “as one having authority,” if you think that an honestly hand made Split-Bamboo is worth its price; and if you agree with me that the building thereof is a poem, the perusing of which is a thing well calculated to assist in passing profitably many an hour in delightfully novel and restful diversion, oblivious to carking cares.

1--Eight-foot fly-rod, 4½ ounces, integral cork grasp 2--Nine-foot fly-rod, 5½ ounces, detachable cork grasp 3--Nine-and-one-half-foot fly-rod, 6 ounces (same grasp) 4--Ten-foot fly-rod, 6¾ ounces, detachable cork grasp 5--Five-and-one-quarter-foot bait-casting rod, cedar grasp, and with light and heavy tops ]

CULTIVATING SILKWORM-GUT AT HOME

BY EDWIN T. WHIFFEN

(By kind permission of the author and of _Forest and Stream_)