The sawbones said I should be okay to start rod making again, so I went in today. For the sanding and filing jobs I wore my sunglasses to keep little things out of my eyes. My shirogisu rod is getting closer and closer to completion, I should be wrapping on the guides tomorrow. The next project I have started is a short haze rod; I wrapped the joints with silk thread and lacquered them. I am very much looking forward to my shirogisu fishing trip scheduled for the 21st (the only worry is the weather, as it changes very easily this time of the year) as I will not only be able to give my rod a test, but it will be the first time for me out on the water for five weeks.
Both the rods went into their special wooden chamber to ‘dry’. One peculiarity of Japanese lacquer, aside from its quite unpleasant toxicity, is that it does not dry, rather it cures on contact with atmospheric humidity and hardens into an inert solid. Therefore lacquered rods are placed inside a wooden box, rather like a coffin, that is wetted on the inside to maintain a high humidity.
the Compleat Tsuribito 