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_.
[Illustration: Doubled winding-thread with noose]
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:
[Illustration: Strips grouped ready for gluing]
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.
[Illustration: Gluing Up: Fig. 1--Starting the winding-thread]
[Illustration: Gluing Up: Fig. 2--Winding]
[Illustration: Gluing Up: Fig. 3--Rolling]
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