Chapter VI: Rod-Making: Gluing Up

The attempt at gluing up his rod-joints has proven the particular Slough of Despond in which the creative ambition of many a prospective rod-builder has become hopelessly mired; so it is not without a full sense of the responsibility assumed that we begin this chapter. Yet despite all this--listen, brother, while we whisper it--the writer of these words has glued, does and can glue up rod-joints--glue them up _straight_, and without suffering paralyzing apprehension as to the outcome while engaged in the process. Therefore take heart, all ye fearful ones.

Various recommended methods were given trial before formulating the technic which has worked out most successfully in our own case, and which we shall conscientiously explain.

What are the customary directions and suggestions--and their inevitable complications?--about as follows: First, you are told that both glue and strips must be kept hot; then, that it is necessary that the strips should receive a preliminary bath of glue which is allowed to dry in the bamboo, filling its pores; that you must heat a little and wind a little; that the winding--this temporary winding coincident with gluing--especially in the case of the lighter joints and tops, will give a spiral twist to the joint--which you must overcome by winding in the opposite direction, and crossing the first threads, back to the starting-point; and if, before you get a quarter of the distance on your return trip, the glue has cooled and set so that the twist does _not_ come out as you were counting on, why you heat the joint again (perhaps over an oil- or gas-stove or with a “steam hose”), and repeat as often as may be necessary--your fingers the while accumulating stratified layers of rapidly congealing glue, so that they stick to each other and to the bamboo more tightly than the strips seem inclined to stick together--and there is glue, glue everywhere, particularly where you least want it, and where it most effectually can obstruct the work in hand. Yes, it _is_ fierce!

You may be interested to learn that Divine, the Utica, N. Y., rod-maker, once cataloged a special rod having a permanent torsional twist put deliberately into it, and he claimed that joints so made are more rigid than those of the standard form of construction. Accept whatever of consolation this bit of information may bring. We note also that the addition of a little acetic acid or vinegar to the glue has been recommended for retarding its gelatinization or setting; personally, we have not found the expedient necessary.

In applying the glue to the strips, perhaps you have stood them endwise in a tin-tube of glue--standing that in hot water to keep it warm--and winding first one end of the joint and then reversing it and winding the other; or, first having tied the strips together at two or three points, you have made use of a cardboard or tin device having a circle of six triangular holes through which the unglued strip-ends are thrust to keep them separated while applying the glue to their individual inner surfaces, as you intermittently glue for a short distance, slip the separator along a bit, and wind. Then, after the winding is completed, from butt to the smaller end of the joint, you sight along the joint for irregularities, and heat it again at these points, to correct them by counter-bending.

Again, we have tried gluing up and winding the joints in separate halves, clamping each half till the glue had thoroughly set, and then gluing the mating halves together and clamping the whole against a rigid, straight, heavy strip of wood with a lighter clamping strip. This latter plan yielded pretty fair results with some larger joints.

But whatever of routine success others may have achieved in pursuance of any of the above methods, certain it is for us that way lies despair and wrathful objurgation, notwithstanding we are able to endure all the preceding stress of splitting, straightening, and planing with unruffled placidity.

Most assuredly, if it be possible to glue and wind joints so that most of the glue remains where it is wanted, and with but a minimum thereof affectionately attaching to the hands, and if the joints can be wound in one direction only, and all this be accomplished while at the same time _straightening instead of twisting_ the joints, such a technic is highly desirable from all standpoints--those of progress, comfort, and efficiency. We presently will explain our path to this end. It is not to be expected, however, from any method of gluing, that the meekest gluer may avoid becoming palpably “stuck-up.” But a little hot water readily removes the glue from your hands--if not its remoter effects from your conscience--which thus should be unburdened at sundry interludes, as shall faithfully be noted.

We are reminded here of the illuminating reply received by one who was attempting to lure from a professional rod-maker, canny as famous, the exact details of his gluing process. The query, “By the way, Tom, how do you glue up?” elicited: “Why, how do you suppose? With _glue_, of course.” The anecdote serves as an introduction to the subject of glue itself.

The descriptive catalogs of most rod-manufacturers will tell how each one’s brand of rod is made with a special, secret “waterproof cement,” of wonderful adhesive and cohesive qualities; how even the bamboo employed is of a particularly superior variety which needs must receive a distinguishing appellation unknown to the botanists; and how the varnish used is unlike anything in the varnish line known in the regular trade. In short--and similarly with particular brands of automobiles, marine gas-engines, guns and a few other articles of merchandise--this particular rod, sold by this particular house, is the one and only implement, embodying to a superlative degree all the attainable excellencies to which an angling-rod could lay claim.

Now, all these are good rods; and there can be no question that there are various and valuable trade secrets peculiar to rod-making, just as there are in any matured manufacturing industry--yet, glue is glue; and it is perfectly well understood by sophisticated buyers that in a general way such assertions of unique excellence may be dismissed as mere trade “talking-points.”

Any ordinarily good glue will suffice. The writer even has glued up satisfactory joints with the sheet gelatine that you buy in grocery stores for kitchen use, dissolved in hot water. Appropriately enough, genuine Russian isinglass--fish glue--is stated to be the very best thing for the purpose. It ought to be, at the price quoted, which years ago was about seven dollars a pound. It is made from the bladder of the sturgeon, the real article is very difficult to obtain, and many cheaper forms of gelatine are so called. The reader is at liberty to seek this elusive brand,[5] or to obtain the more expensive grade of imported French or German glue, soaking it overnight in cold water to soften it, then boiling it up in a regulation glue-pot when ready to apply it, and thus preparing it afresh each time that it is used--if he wants to.

Many practical carpenters use Le Page’s prepared liquid glue in their work, and we have glued rod-joints with this also. With Major’s cement, Jeffrey’s marine glue, and liquid “iron cement” we have had no experience in this connection. From any pattern- or cabinet-maker you can obtain some glue--perhaps coarsely granular and often comprising broken pieces of many different samples--that will serve your purpose fully. And after a short preliminary soaking in cold water, you can add a little more, hot water and boil it up by placing its cheap tin-container in a second receptacle, an ordinary saucepan of water. Some rod-makers’ choice is a good quality of white glue. In any event it should boil slowly--simmer--and the longer it cooks the better will it be; and a hide glue is superior to a bone glue. Any expert wood-worker will tell you that two other important factors of an A-1 gluing job are that the _glue should be used thin and that the wood is hot_ when glued. Professionals heat the bamboo-strips in a hot-box.

The amateur rod-builder can get a good fire going in the kitchen range, place two irons or bricks a foot or so apart, and with thin pieces of wood topping them, on the stove over the fire (stove cover-holes remaining closed), and lay his strips athwart these wood supports till hot, without injury. Or a kitchen gas-range may be used, by placing the irons or bricks with a sheet of tin over them to cover two holes, and laying the pieces of wood to hold the strips atop the tin.

While the function fulfilled by the glue in binding the strips together is tremendously effective from the standpoint of the increased rigidity of the glued joint as compared with its strips when simply bound together by windings, it nevertheless is true that all the glue has to accomplish is to hold the strips from sliding one against another--that is, to prevent them from acting individually instead of as a solid homogeneous piece, when a bending strain is applied. Now, a very slight adhesive force between the strips will suffice for this when it is distributed along their whole length, especially when this bond is supplemented by the ferrules at the ends of the joints, by the line-guide wrappings, and by the other strong, permanent silk-windings held in a plentiful coating of varnish.

The malleability of the joints, and just how they act before the glue has stiffened, may be well observed in a joint whose finished strips are assembled and held by a snug temporary winding, without any glue having been applied as yet. Both the winding and the yet soft glue permit the strips to slide, one upon another, as you bend the joint; and to remain approximately in whatever was the form when the bending force was interrupted, because also they hold the strips from slipping back into their original position, until a counteracting force is applied. Bend the joint into an S shape and so it remains until bent some other way. Thus it is that _this time of gluing up is the most advantageous time for molding the completed joints straight_.

Get a small camel’s-hair brush, not over one-half inch wide--or better, the stiffer, Siberian ox-hair kind that paint stores carry--and have your glue in readiness, the container resting in the saucepan of water which is kept warm over a convenient oil- or gas-heater or on the kitchen coal-range. Loose the strips of your joint from the winding that has bound them since were finished. The writer uses Barbour’s linen-thread--obtained at the drygoods store--number 25 for all except top-joints, and number 40 for these; and he makes use of the one piece for temporary binding and for the winding-thread used in gluing. This thread, doubled, and made long enough to wind the whole length of the joint, has a slip-noose turned in its looped end. Place the thread conveniently nearby, so you can _grab it instantly_ when wanted. Also have handy some warm water in a basin, a sponge, and a piece of rag (no relation to the “bone and hank of hair”).

Lay the strips down in front of you, arranged in two groups of three strips each, and in this order:

Pick up strip number I in your left hand, grasping it near its middle, and rapidly but thoroughly, with long strokes, apply the warm glue to the whole length of the inside surface, A, beginning at the smaller end; then lay the strip down again, on its remaining dry, planed surface. (It is better that the room where these sacred rites are progressing should be decidedly warm--at night, when the rest of the family are all abed, in the kitchen on the table, which is drawn near to the coal-range, after you have started that a-going at a good pace, is ideal.) Next, treat strip number III (no, we don’t mean II) in the same way, applying the glue to its planed surface B; lay it down. At any time when the brush may stiffen or the glue in the brush is too thick to spread well, limber the brush and thin the glue a bit at one and the same time by cleaning out the brush in the hot water in which the glue-can sits. Now you may pick up strip II and cover _both_ of its planed surfaces with glue; and _don’t_ lay this down--yet--but transfer it to your right hand (having laid that brush in a _safe place_, mind you, from where it will not fall on the floor and annex a choice collection of dust), which grasps it between thumb and forefinger, at the butt. Next, seizing strip I similarly in the left hand, pick it up and bring the glued sides of the strips II and I together; and, then, holding both in the left hand, pick up strip III and bring that up against the first two. Then place this half-section on the table, with planed surfaces down, and pinch all three strips together firmly, along their whole length, between thumbs and fingers, sufficiently for them to adhere together as a unit--some gaping will do no harm.

Now, wash your hands in the warm water in the basin and wipe them on the rag.

Exactly the same maneuvers are repeated with strips IIII, IIIIII, and IIIII, and this second half-joint is placed on the table near the first.

Repeat the hand washing.

Return to the half-section first glued, turn it on its back and spread glue liberally over its whole uppermost or inside surface, which is two strips wide. Apply glue similarly to the second half; and bring these halves together.

Be _sure_ to wash your hands this time, before proceeding with the next steps, which are as follows: First secure the joint halves tightly at the butt with the noosed end of your doubled thread; but before pulling the noose up snug, tap the butt of the joint smartly against the table to even up the ends of all the strips. (Here’s where you begin to speed up a bit--and where in Sam Hill _is_ that blooming thread?--Well, we told you to have it handy, didn’t we?) Having gripped the whole joint firmly within the noose, take a few initial spiral turns _away from you_, around the joint (Fig. 1). Next, turn the joint so that its butt is now directed toward your left hand; _lay it down on the table_, still holding taut on the winding-thread; and proceed to wind tightly in spirals, spaced about three-eighths of an inch; _rolling the joint away from you as you simultaneously pull the thread toward you, and force all the strip edges evenly together_ under the combined constriction of the progressively encircling winding, the rolling of the joint, and the downward pressure against the table of the palmar surface of the fingers of both hands (Fig. 2).

Before proceeding very far you will note to your great surprise and delight, first, that as you wind, the joint is _straightened by being rolled against the unyielding level surface of the table_; and, next, that it _does not twist_ when carefully wound in this way, but each of its six flat surfaces holds to its own proper plane.

Having completed the winding, wipe off the excess of glue with the sponge and a little hot water. This also wets and shrinks the winding-thread, making still tighter constriction. Sight now along the joint for the more noticeable deflections; correct these by counter-bending, take out any very mild twist by counter-twisting, and then submit the whole joint to some more _rolling treatment, very vigorously now_, to and fro under the palms of the hands (Fig. 3), and bearing on with considerable pressure. Occasionally we have rolled a joint under a flatiron. Continue rolling until the glue is well set and the joint considerably stiffened up, which requires only a few minutes, when it may be allowed to repose on the table until morning.

Yes, it’s pretty late--but really you should wash your hands again before going to bed.

The following day you may remove the winding-thread and sandpaper the joint, using number 0 or number 1 paper. First remove the hardened exuded glue by systematically going lengthwise over each of the six flat surfaces individually; then over the joint as a whole, just sufficiently for the removal of any remaining glue and for the slightest rounding of its edges; except that the outer part of fly-rod top-joints may be sandpapered vigorously to materially reduce the caliber here as noted in the previous chapter.

Sight along the cleaned joint once more; correct any slight deflections yet remaining, by heating them _very carefully_ over the flame (the enamel surface is bound to be exposed toward the flame now), manipulating them between the fingers, and once more doing a little rolling, with the pressure concentrated at the particular spot undergoing final treatment.

And there you are! Rod-building possesses no more difficulties for you, worthy of the name; your joint is glued up; it has become a thing of beauty, as straight as an arrow. Who now may say that you can’t do the trick?

At this stage we once again take note of any little lumpiness that may still remain at the knot-sites, and, where indicated, make a final application of the file, using this time the small triangular saw-file and not the coarse, cross-hatched tool.

Having glued up our joints they now are ready to be fitted with their respective ferrules. They are straight and rigid, and should remain lying on a flat surface or suspended from their ends while awaiting further attention; do not allow them to stand on end, the ends only being supported, or they may become bowed. And as varnish is an effective preventive against the absorption of dampness, and the subsequent warping due to this cause, we apply the first coat very soon, but invariably on a _dry day_. It also is our personal practise to invest the joints with their first permanent, silk windings--after the manner described under “Windings and Guides”--before they receive this first varnishing.

A professional method of gluing and winding known to the author as having been employed by at least one maker, is the following: The six strips of a joint are laid alongside each other on their backs or rind surface; glue is applied quickly to all at once by a few rapid strokes of a wide brush; the strips are brought together and the joint is held at both ends in a lathe; while one worker turns the joint by the lathe handle, another winds it with _tape_, in overlapping spirals. A hand-rest extends along the front of the lathe. After winding, the joints are hung up by the small end to dry and season, being suspended by means of little clamps.

ROD-MAKING:

FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING; ONE-PIECE AND SPLICED RODS