Making a Brown Trout Stick
(Part 7)
The next stage is, I think the most exciting but also the most difficult to get right, the placing and inserting the eyes. In the early days I used to drill a very small hole and put pins in to establish that I had them positioned correctly. Now I drill the hole the size I want, the size depends upon the size and type of fish.
The hole has been drilled, I fasten the head by the joining rod in the vice facing forward then standing to one side I drill the hole at right angles to the plane of the fishes body at this point. I then move to the same position on the opposite side of the fish and repeat the procedure. By feeling the position of the drill on my chest it helps to get both eyes correctly aligned.
The dowel for the eye can be made from any scrap piece of horn. The piece that was cut off under the chin would do. I like to put the eyes in this way because using the end grain of the horn gives that watery look that fish eyes have. Whilst I make the eyes a tight fit I usually secure them with thin super glue.
When the eyes are set cut off the surplus leaving about 2 or 3 millimetres proud. Then drill a hole in the centre of each eye to insert some brass tubing, obviously the hole needs to correspond to the size of the tubing. Again I use super glue to ensure a strong joint. Finally make a small dowel of black horn and fill the hole in the brass tube.
Using a small round file slowly remove the edges from the eye until the centre is slightly proud of the body. One can also make a slight depression around the eyes, in front of the gills and at the front of the fins. Don't overdo it, the stick must feel comfortable in the hand, with no sharp areas to cause blisters
The head can now be glued onto the shank, if the fit is tight drill a small hole in the shank at right angles to the bottom of hole drill for the joining rod, this will allow for excess glue to escape. Before the glue is set make a final check that the head and the shank are correctly aligned, there is nothing worse than a stick where the handle goes off at an angle to the shank.
The marriage of the handle to the shank should have as fine a glue line as it is possible to get. When doing the final working down of the head at the marriage wrap the shank with insulating tape to help to protect it from damage from the files and glass paper.
