Chapter IV: Rod-Making: Planing the Strips

It must be evident to anyone that in reducing roughly-squared strips of bamboo to the equilateral-triangular form and definitely-graduated taper required for their incorporation into symmetrical rod-joints, some kind of grooved form or mold is necessary for holding the strips securely and guiding the cutting exactly. Such devices have been various. They frequently are made of close-grained hard wood such as lignum-vitæ, beech, or maple. The planing-board of the professional manufacturer may be of brass.

You do not require any mold for the initial planing operations, already noted as consisting--after a mere leveling of the pith surface--simply in smoothing the split sides of each strip, where it was rent away from the parent stalk. For further _preliminary_ planing and tapering, the author still makes use of the wooden mold, acceptably and quickly constructed, for this work, of any soft wood such as pine or cypress; but he never succeeded in turning out joints of satisfactory excellence until he adopted a steel mold or planing-board for the last, fine planing-down of the strips to their ultimate dimensions. Thus far the most unfavorable criticism upon this device by discerning angler friends was offered after this fashion: “Say, the joints that that thing turns out are too good; no one will believe they are handmade, and by an amateur.”

This steel mold is adjustable for the full length and varying calibers of the joints of any rod, from one having a diameter up to one inch or more at the extreme butt, if so desired, and a width at the tip of anything from a scant one-sixteenth of an inch upward. Also, the mold being made in independent halves, of not excessive rigidity, it may either be _sprung apart or compressed_ along the middle--the ends first being secured--to produce a joint having either a _convex or concave taper_; or with it you may turn out simple straight-tapered joints or those having _double or combined straight tapers_. All this will be made clear as we proceed.

In employing full-length wooden molds, the usual custom is to construct a separate one for each individual joint and duplicates--butt, middle-joint, and top--of certain definite dimensions. Such a procedure involves not only the extra work of making three distinct molds for each rod of a given caliber and taper, but in our experience it is far from satisfactory in that to avoid destroying the surface of the mold in the last planing, the strip surfaces--after planing them to close approximation--must be finished by filing; and it is very difficult to prevent the wearing down of the mold even in the most careful cross-filing. Such distortion of its originally even surface produces hollow places in the sides of the rod-strips, and consequently in the resultant rod-joints, and to a more aggravated degree as each succeeding strip leaves the mold. Wooden molds are further deficient in accuracy, as compared with steel molds, because the edges and angles of a wooden groove are less sharply defined than is possible with steel.

We will give sufficient details, however, of a common way of constructing wooden molds, both because we make a preliminary use of such a mold--which can thus serve us in the building of many rods of entirely different dimensions--and in order that the reader may judge how much simpler and more efficient is the process that the author personally uses and commends.

The triangles composing a hexagonal rod-section are equilateral triangles; such triangles have angles of 60 degrees, and three of them make just half of the section, comprising 180 degrees, as there are 360 degrees in a circle. It therefore is apparent that we must _plane down our strips flush with the face of a groove having an angle of 60 degrees_.

Only the _split_ faces of each strip are cut down, and these by bringing them uppermost _in alternation. The rind or enamel surface lies always against one or the other side of the groove and it remains untouched by the plane._ The sketch below, of the wooden double mold, will make this clear if the text does not.

A--Mold strip B--Plane C--Guiding-strip D--Brace E--Baseboard FF--Wedges in wedging space ]

This is the way that some build the groove for the full-length mold of wood. It is made by fastening together two strips, of say ¾ inch by 1½ inches and 3½ to 4 feet long, which strips have had the proper bevel cut along the upper edges of their adjoining sides. The diagram shows how this bevel may be cut accurately, by means of a plane, rectangular on cross-section, and which is slid along a guiding-strip that holds it tipped laterally at the proper angle. A pattern for this rig is easily made in full size by first drawing the mold-strip cross-section, (A); next, getting the inclination of the bottom of the plane (B) by means of an equilateral triangle (dotted lines); then drawing at a right-angle to this the line (C) which represents the correct inclination of the guiding-strip.

The groove of such a mold is at first of a uniform depth throughout its length. To make of it a tapered groove, it remains but to plane down the face of the mold to whatever tapering depth is desired, bearing in mind that the _width of the finished groove at any point--and consequently of a surface of the bamboo-strip that will just fill the groove at the same point--is just one-half the diameter of the completed rod-joint at the corresponding point_, provided that we measure the rod’s diameter from _angle to angle_ of its hexagonal section, and not between opposite flat surfaces. To put it in another way, the half of a six-strip rod-joint that has been divided lengthwise presents an inside plane surface composed of only _two_ adjoining surfaces, laid up edge to edge. Hence, for the sake of convenience and clarity, we will after this speak of the _diameter from angle to angle whenever referring to rod calibers_, unless specifically designated otherwise.

This planing of the mold’s grooved surface to taper is best done with a long plane that the carpenter calls a fore-plane, and such surface should be carefully tested lengthwise with a straight-edge and crosswise with a try-square.

But the writer has a much simpler method than all this, of making wooden molds for all that he requires of them. Indeed they need only approximate accuracy; yet it is easy enough to have the angle of the groove true. Furthermore, they _may be only from six inches to a foot in length, the strips being shifted along when planing them_.

The reader is now introduced to the very convenient little tool called a center-gauge. You see that it has one pointed end and several notches, all their angles being 60 degrees. This may be obtained from the larger hardware stores, either untempered or of tempered steel; you want the latter, and it will cost about twenty-five cents. Time and again you will find it handy for testing angles. Take your two strips of any soft wood and plane one edge of each approximately to the required bevel--just freehand. Place the strips side by side, the bevels facing, and test them with the point of the center-gauge. Correct, as needed, by additional planing and testing, until the bevels and the groove they form are fairly accurate; then, to make the groove absolutely correct, use your tempered center-gauge as a _scraper_, holding the tool vertically as you draw the point lengthwise of the strips, which are paralleled but kept slightly separated. Now nail the beveled strips together and your mold is ready for use.

It will be found an added convenience if you make a double mold, by utilizing opposite surfaces of the same strips, one groove running from about 1/4-inch deep at the large end to 3/16 at the small end, and the other being slightly shallower. The grain of the wood had better run vertically, as sketched.

Thus far the only planing of our bamboo-strips consisted in cutting off the pith from the inner, concave side to a flat surface and the mere smoothing of the split edges; and this preferably is done as advised, that is previous to heating and straightening them. The first process in actual reduction to the triangular form wanted--and one that facilitates matters when we come to make use of the V-groove--is to lay the strips on their sides and plane away some more from their split faces. As you do this, tilt the plane sideways, but only a _little_, so as to make the strips narrower on the inside (pith side). We then place the strip in one or the other of our wooden grooves--most appropriate as determined by the size of the joint under construction--with this smooth beveled edge and the enamel surface lying against their respective sides of the groove, and proceed to cut down the other side to a surface _parallel with the face of the mold_. Plane a little _first on one, then on the other_ of these split sides of the strip, alternately, until the strip very nearly fits flush, with its enamel side up, into this wooden groove, which is larger than the steel groove that you will make use of for the final dressing-down.

Before you reach this stage, it will however become necessary to adopt some method both of holding the strip while planing and of guarding against _cutting your fingers_ with the razor-like edges which bamboo presents when cut to triangular form; for no other holding device can compare either in simplicity or efficiency with the thumb and finger of one hand. But if these are unprotected, as the plane takes a firmer bite occasionally, the strip will be pulled or pushed between the fingers and a deep and painful cut will result, which though it may heal readily enough, still it interferes with business. The edges are sharp enough to make a clean cut even through the heavy leather of an old walking-glove, which the writer uses on his left or holding hand; but if you wind a few turns of a one-inch gauze roller-bandage around the last joints of the thumb and forefinger of that hand before donning the glove, then you are safe and may plane away fearlessly; or a heavy canvas working-glove of the ten-cent-store species may be used.

The first planing may be done with short, rapid, overlapping strokes and with the planing-iron set rather coarse, so that it will cut comparatively short and thick shavings; but as you approach closely to the surface of your steel mold, the blade is set fine and each stroke should be _continuous_ from the butt to the smaller end of the strip; there should be an even, heavy pressure on the plane, and it should be pushed ahead with slow deliberation. This last caution is all-important when planing the slender strips of delicate fly-rod top-joints, running from less than one-sixteenth inch in diameter at their butt-ends to one-thirty-secondth at their tips. There must be no backing up here, no lifting of the plane from the strip from start to finish of the stroke, as such a maneuver is likely to cause buckling and breakage of the strip. And with all planing the general rule should be regarded that applies to most cutting tools, to cut with the planing-blade _held a little obliquely_. Also see that the position of the planing-hand is not such as to obstruct the free ejection of shavings from the plane.

Early change in the position of the holding-hand, so soon as the stroke is fully started--as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2--is likewise an important caution to be heeded in the planing of bamboo-strips, especially for light tops. But if the accident of buckling and fracture should occur, the whole strip is not necessarily ruined for use; if cut off and pieced out with a separate section, _at exactly the point where a line-guide is subsequently to be placed_, such splinting with the guide will sufficiently reinforce it at this point so that there will be no perceptible weakness of the completed joint, as regards either action or durability.

A--Point where strips join end to end, and guide serving as splint ]

The holding-hand, in the first position shown, must be only a few inches in advance of the plane, and it is shifted forward for subsequent strokes, as the plane closely approaches it. The strip under the plane is _pushed_ against the hand so held. As the second or slenderer half of the strip is planed, the holding-hand is shifted to the second position, behind the plane; and the thumb and forefinger holding the end of the strip, which now is lifted from the groove, prevent the strip from being _pulled_ ahead; and the finishing-stroke, on the smaller half, is a continuous one.

Planing the Strips:

Another point in the technic here, is that of the _direction of the pressure imparted by the holding-hand’s thumb and fingers_. With the plane behind this hand on starting to go over the strip, they should press the strip down into the groove and at the same time either to the right or left--a lateral pushing or pulling--in order to _force the rind side of the bamboo firmly against its side of the groove, and to hold it there and prevent its tilting away_. When the holding-hand is shifted to the second position, the fingers _twist_ the strip toward one or the other side to accomplish the same end. Once again, heed the caution always to plane with the _plane’s face parallel to the mold’s surface_--not dropped either to the right or left.

If the above cautions be not observed, the result will be a strip that is irregularly triangular on cross-section, with one planed surface wider than the other, as illustrated, instead of being symmetrical, as indicated by the dotted line in the picture. To prevent a strip’s thus “going off” lopsidedly, remember in your planing of sides alternatingly that it is principally the _narrower_ surface which requires correction in order to even up the cross-section; so make frequent observations of your work with this in mind. The endeavor should be made to have the triangular section _equilateral early in the planing and to keep it so_, rather than to permit of carelessness at first with the intention of remedying the matter later. This will save the amateur rod-builder much tribulation, as it is one of the most vital points, it being of course impossible to make symmetrical hexagonal rod-joints out of finished strips of irregular section.

It sometimes is convenient to correct this going off from the true equilateral form, by again using your center-gauge as a scraper. Fasten it upright in the vise this time, and draw the defective strip through its notched end, with pressure so regulated that the scraping is done principally against the narrowed side of the strip; this widens the narrow side and at the same time narrows the side that is too wide. V-notched truing-scrapers are easily made by notching the edge of any piece of saw steel--as a cabinet-makers’ scraper, selling for ten cents--by means of the common _triangular-section saw-sharpening file, which has angles of the required sixty degrees_. However, if due attention is had to the warnings already given, such corrective scraping rarely becomes necessary.

As previously instructed, the planing-iron is set very fine, so as to cut the thinnest possible shaving, for the ultimate planing-down; and a few short, light final strokes are permissible over those places felt to be still high, as tested by drawing the finger delicately across the strip and the face of the mold. The smallest Stanley plane, about three inches long, is very nice for this work. Keep the plane _well sharpened_ by frequent resort to the oilstone. A few drops of thin oil placed occasionally on the metal surface of the mold are helpful after the planing-iron begins to hug it closely.

The writer has found it sufficient for the production of accurate joints, to finish his strips entirely with the plane, except perhaps in the case of tops for the lighter fly-rods. He finishes these by scraping them lengthwise with discarded safety-razor blades, an ordinary razor-blade removed from its handle, a scissors blade, chisel, planing-iron, or a common jack-knife. Of file or sandpaper he makes no use at this stage of the work. In making his lighter top-joints, he very carefully takes off just the feather-edge at the junction of the inner sides of the strips, so that there shall be no question about their pushing home at the center of the joint when gluing up; for this delicate work the safety-razor blade is just the thing.

It now is time for the details of the metal planing- or finishing-mold itself, and the manner of its adjustment for getting out joints of the definite length and taper desired for the rod that it is determined upon to build. This is very simply constructed of two four-foot bars of ¾-inch cold-rolled steel, and it can be made at any machine-shop at moderate expense. The illustrations herewith will fully explain exactly what is wanted, and the machinist must be cautioned that the _beveled edges must be absolutely true_, in order correctly to form our sixty-degree-angled groove when the bars are brought together side by side. But soon you will see that they are kept slightly apart in actual use, as our _taper is obtained by the beautifully easy stunt of spreading the separate halves of our mold obliquely and precisely to the minute fraction of an inch required_. The center-gauge will attest the mold’s accuracy.

The four edges of each of our square steel bars are cut off, then, to a bevel of the same inclination, as above stated, but presenting faces of varying widths, respectively as follows: 1/32, 1/16, ⅛, and 3/16 of an inch. The bars are held in any degree and position of separation wanted, by means of right-angled braces, secured by appropriate screws to their respective bars, and the whole is fastened to a base of any well-seasoned wood plank about six inches in width, one inch thick, and having an unwarped surface. The short or upright arm of the braces is 5/8 of an inch long; the long or horizontal arm is one inch; and they are one-inch wide. Machine-screws, 3/16 inch in diameter and with rounding heads, secure the bar-arms of the braces to the bars. The longer arms are fastened to the wooden baseboard by one-inch wood-screws having rounded heads, and small iron washers are used under their heads. The holes in both arms of the braces are made larger than needed merely to accommodate the screws, to permit of considerable play and consequent separation of the halves of the mold. If desiring still more to increase this range of side-play of the bars, you can enlarge the screw holes in the long arms of the braces by filing them out with a small rat-tail file, thus converting these round holes into slots. Five pairs of braces, centered 10½ inches apart, are used; and note, as shown in the Fig. 2 illustration of the mold, that it will be an added convenience in adjusting it to have the screws that secure the long arms _set to one side of those fastening the short arms_, instead of having the two sets of screws line up opposite; thus they will not interfere with each other.

The whole arrangement is at once understood by reference to the diagrammatic illustrations, Fig. 1 representing a sectional or end view, and Fig. 2 being a top view of the mold. It remains but to explain its adjustment. Suppose, for example, it is desired to make a butt-joint 3½ feet long, having a diameter of ½ inch at its larger end and of ⅜ inch at its smaller end--measuring, please remember, from angle to angle. Marks on the baseboard, at A and B in Fig. 2 will note the length of 3½ feet, A being at the butt or larger end of the proposed rod-joint. (But be it understood that the _bamboo-strips should be left a little longer than the completed rod-section_, to allow for trimming at the ends.) We separate the mold-halves at this point so that the space from bevel-edge to bevel-edge at the mold’s surface is exactly ¼ inch, or _half_ the diameter wanted there for the completed joint; and we separate the edges 3/16 inch at B.

The particular beveled faces or edges of the mold that we make use of for our groove, whether one of the narrower or wider ones, are those best facilitating the construction of a joint of the special diameter wanted, _though the narrowest bevel may be used for any joint, if so desiring_; we practically are unlimited as to the larger rod-calibers that may be produced, but the minimum is gauged by the 1/32-inch beveled edges, which, when brought close together at one end of the mold, enable us to get out the component strips for a top-joint 1/16 inch wide at its tip. But this may be further reduced when the joint is sandpapered after gluing; and such trimming-down of the small end of glued-up top-joints may be resorted to with impunity since here we are dealing with such a small caliber that the whole thickness of the joint is solid fiber.

Months after I had worked out the details of my steel planing-mold and had used it with great satisfaction, it was with no little interest that I noted the description of a “shooting-board,” by G. Randle of Plymouth, England, and communicated by him to Mr. Marston’s famous _Fishing Gazette_. As will be seen, this is an adjustable planing-board constructed of wood. Mr. Randle says:

“During the past twelve months I have made some half-dozen split-cane rods by means of a shooting-board made as follows: Get a piece of seasoned yellow pine, 8 inches wide, 1½ inch thick, and 5 feet long. Plane one side true and straight. Get two pieces of seasoned mahogany the same length, 3 inches wide, and about 1 inch thick. Bevel the edges as shown in the sketch. Screw these pieces to the pine board. The piece marked A is made to slide about ½ inch by cutting slots for the screws to travel in. This will allow the strips of cane to be planed of varying sections as required for the several pieces of the rod. The edges of the mahogany must be accurately beveled. Both edges of A can be beveled, one edge for the tops of the rods, the other, when reversed, for the remaining pieces.”

A very practical point in rod-building that challenges attention during planing operations, is that the coarse, earlier planing is accomplished with very much greater rapidity than are the finishing-strokes, where careful deliberation must be practised; it also is very apparent how much more quickly than the smaller ones the larger joints are turned out. Again, if one job be made of the rougher planing on butt- and middle-joints for several different rods, much time is saved that otherwise would be employed in setting the planing-blade--changing from coarse to fine and back again. Then, too, it is economical to have two planes. Further, top-joints will be built by the beginner much more readily--and they will be better built--after previous experience on the larger sections. The gluing, ferrule-setting, and permanent windings likewise are much easier work for the novice when dealing with the larger joints, and previous practise here simplifies these details as applied to the more delicate tops.

From all of the foregoing the observant reader will rightly conclude that he can complete four rods, for example, if working on all four together, in much less than four times the period that would be required for one alone. He can do all his splitting and assembling, all his rough and then the fine planing, all gluing up, the ferrule-fitting, all windings, and finally the varnishing, making a finish of each of these procedures in the order noted, and so “getting his hand in” on each that the bunch of rods is run through in a surprisingly short time.

The preliminary planing of most commercial “handmade” rods is done on a planing machine, only the final, accurate trimming of the strips being accomplished with a hand plane, when a long, jointer plane may be used. The beveling may be done by feeding the strips to two rotary saws or cutters set at an angle of sixty degrees to each other, and the tapering accomplished by the automatic raising of a strip into the apex of the angle formed by the cutters as its small end approaches them. In finishing up with the jointer plane, a wooden mold may be used, and the plane may travel on a track attached to the sides of the mold and which permits the planing-iron just to clear the mold’s surface and thus prevents it from touching and cutting into it.

ROD-MAKING:

ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING