Paul Duffield - Make Your Own Traditional Fishing Tackle

In this chapter I will cover some basic tools and techniques that you will use when making many of the items in this book.

First we will consider tools and basic materials. If you have ever done any home DIY, you will have many of these items already. There is no need for a wide array of specialist tools, but you will find some tasks easier with a tool or gadget made for the purpose. Heres what you will need:

A saw suitable for cutting wood and cane such as a Tenon Saw.

A saw suitable for cutting metal such as a Junior Hacksaw.

A pipe cutter

3/8inch BSF tap

A selection of coarse, medium and fine grade abrasive paper suitable for sanding wood and metal.

A selection of medium and fine wire wool.

A selection of small craft or artists paint brushes

Sharp knife such as disposable craft knives or a Stanley knife

Razor blades

Some rod whipping thread.

Colour preserver or sealer for whippings

Waterproof varnish

White spirit or brush cleaner

Masking Tape

Strong two part epoxy glue

In the remainder of this chapter I will cover some basic techniques that will be referred to in later chapters.

Preparing New Cane

Ordinary garden cane available from garden centres can be used to make traditional rod rests and landing net handles, but it needs preparation to remove moisture, flatten nodes and make it straight.

Some cane is quite suitable with little or no drying if it has already been dried before being exported, and this cane can be recognised by its straw colour . Avoid cane that looks green or that has been left outside exposed to the elements and shows signs of rotting or water damage at the end.

Cane can be heated over a gas flame to remove any remaining moisture, but be careful not to leave the cane in the flame too long or it will scorch or burn. It is best to move the cane in and out of the flame while at the same time rotating it, to avoid overheating.

As the enamel on the outside of the cane is waterproof, the moisture will be driven to the end of the cane when heated and will steam or drip out of the end.

Preparing Reclaimed Cane

Cane reclaimed from old fishing rods is ideal for making traditional fishing tackle items such as banksticks and landing net handles.

To prepare reclaimed cane for use you need to remove old varnish and any rings and whippings that remain. Rings and whippings can be removed by either slicing through all of the whippings with a sharp knife, so the whole whipping can be peeled off in a singe piece, or cutting through the whipping at one end and unwinding it from the rod.

To remove old varnish, you can use a varnish stripper and this is a technique used by many rod restorers, but alternatively the varnish can be easily removed by carefully scraping it off with a craft knife, and finishing with fine sandpaper. If you use this technique, be careful that you do not press too hard with the knife and cut into the cane.

Straightening Cane

Cane sections are rarely straight and will need to be heated to remove bends and kinks. The techniques used for straightening whole cane sections can also be used to remove bends, known as sets in split cane fishing rods.

To straighten cane is it necessary to heat it make it pliable and then bend the cane straight until it cools. I use a domestic gas ring to heat the cane, but other restorers use a variety of heating methods including candles, methylated spirit burners and even heat guns.

Whichever method you use, you must be careful not to overheat the cane. At best you will scorch it, at worst you may set fire to it!

The method I use is to hold the cane either side of the bend wearing a pair of thick gardening gloves and rotate the cane just above the gas flame while simultaneously moving it in a figure of eight movement so no part of the cane is above the flame for long.

When the cane is just too hot to hold comfortably without gloves, it is hot enough, and you can bend the cane a little more than necessary to straighten it so it just bends a little the other way. Hold it in this position until it has cooled and release the tension. You may need to do this more than once if the bend is persistent.

If there are several bends, start at one end of the cane and repeat the process for each bend working along the cane rather than trying to remove all bends in one go.

As soon as I am happy that the cane is as straight as I can get it, I rub a damp cloth over the heated area to cool it down.

Flattening Nodes

If the length of cane you are using has any nodes protruding from the cane these may be removed either by carefully cutting them with a craft knife or rubbing them flat with a wood file and finishing off with sandpaper.