The first net was a B. James replica or as near as I could get it without having an original one to copy. I have made a couple of modifications along the way and it appears to be quite a true copy. I just need a couple of minor refinements to do. This can be viewed here.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13452
I will also be showing pictures of this net to make comparisons between the two
This second net is to be a replica of Richard Walkers early net as built by him. This is to be the 36 inch armed version from around 1950 for the planned visit to Redmire. Building a replica of an original net is difficult in that the true “original” has long since vanished. There are other nets out there made by Richard Walker and as each one tends to vary somewhat, it is difficult to get a starting point. Also other anglers copied the net and just to further complicate matters, Richard Walker also made components which he gave to friends who then assembled them as they saw fit, so once again various little quirks and changes appeared, which over the passage of time became viewed as “normal”. Working from early pictures of a Walker nets, information received from various written sources I have strived to produce a copy of the early net. I would also like to thank Len Arbery and Chris Ball on their help with this.
So as per the previous posts, this isn’t going to be a step by step how to build a net, more an overall description of building it with a few pics of some parts of the build which may be of interest to some, and the final product.
As ever, I started with the handle first. Richard Walker specified East India Cane for this. The pole obviously has to fit the ferrule and knowing the diameter of the inside of the ferrule, and also the outside which in turn has to fit in the hinge piece, gives you the diameter required for the pole, hence starting with this. The pole was selected, heated and straightened. The nodes were flattened and the ferrule once made was fitted to the end having been serrated like a normal rod ferrule and bonded and whipped in place. The length of the pole was then sanded, stained and varnished. I have been unable to source clear pictures of the end of this handle on the early nets but there does appear to be some form of butt cap barely discernable so I gave the end a slight flair and fitted a small domed aluminium butt cap. This is fixed in place with dowell and bonded in place so can be removed if a 100% accurate image can be found and a cap re designed if necessary.
Getting underway. Handles past, present and future.
Flared end and domed cap. If I can find a picture of exactly what the original was like this can easily be replaced.
Next up was the hinge piece. I followed the same process as before. The billet was turned in a four jaw chuck on a lathe until the main shaft had been formed to the correct inner diameter for the ferrule, and the correct outside diameter to fit in with the rest of the dimensions as specified by Richard Walker. Once the shaft part was completed this was then fitted in to 3 jaw self centring chuck and the excess metal removed off the “Tee” piece which accept the arms.
The next stage involved milling the edges flat and the slots for the arms produced. This was done with a vertical slide on the lathe and a milling cutter held in the chuck which gives some limited milling capability if I was careful and took it slowly. The picture below shows the ferrule, hinge assembly and main bolt in the early stage of manufacture. The ferrule still needs serrateing, the hinge piece still needs quite a bit of metal taking off the top and the bolt is not yet slotted.
The bolt was turned, threaded and slotted, having been knurled first before any other cutting was carried out.
The Hinge piece was then marked out for the holes for the pins/ screws. Richard Walkers dimensions for the pin holes are quite tight, so having learnt from my last net, the easiest way was to get to this stage and then measure out the holes as per his dimensions and use this centre point to mark out the end radius of the top of the hinge assembly and test fit the arms. The holes were duly drilled and the radius filed after the excess material was removed from the top in the lathe. The holes were then tapped at the bottom to accept the pins but were smooth at the top to be a dead fit for the pins, and just to confuse matters even more each set of holes ( L & R) were 180 degrees opposed to each other. Confused? It makes more sense when you look at the pictures, but care does need to be taken when doing this stage to ensure you don’t have a moment of inattention and get it confused and therefore wrong! The next paragraph may also explain more.
Next the pins were made. Note I say pins, for these were what Richard Walker specified, not bolts. These are straight pins made from brass. The end ¼ inch is threaded but the tops have no heads, just a slot for screwing. This means the pin screws in the bottom of the hinge piece and sits flush in the top hole meaning there is no protruding metal outside of the block. In some later nets built by others these pins were often replaced by small bolts or set screws which did protrude and the B. James net is an example of this design. Countersunk heads were also used in some builds. However despite my initial misgivings I made the pins as per Walkers original design and was yet again for the umpteenth time impressed by Richard Walkers ingenuity as they worked perfectly as intended without resorting to a clamping action that a bolt would have done and were flush fitting. At the same time I made these I also made the brass bushes for the arms which would house the pins.
Brass pins under construction. These were surprisingly effective.
Brass pins on left, domed headed bolts for a B. James replica on right, quite a difference.
The last job on the hinge piece was to drill and and file a slot for the anti rotation screw to engage in. Once this was done the hinge piece was fitted to the handle and the ferrule marked for the position of the cheese headed brass screw which would be fitted to the ferrule on the handle.
OK, handle made, hinge piece made, Main bolt made, next in line was the arms. There is a lot of work to do on the arms. Firstly a culm has to be split and out of the strips produced four need to be selected, two for each arm. These are then planed on the inner soft side to produce a flat surface. This has to be perfectly flat as the edges of two of these will be bonded together. These are the laminate sections which make up the arms and give flexibility and strength. Once cut these are then glued and clamped up. I left these clamped up for a week before starting the shaping. These were then shaped along all four surfaces to the correct dimensions. There is a good thread on here by Paul Cook on producing this stage of the arms in the Tradition Landing Net Section if anyone requires any more information. Once the arms are formed a groove is filed in the ends which will fit into the hinge piece. Shown below is the finished grooved arm and the brass bush which will eventually fit into it. The outer part of the brass bush is deliberately roughly grooved to help provide a keyed surface for the solder to adhere to. The tip of the arms were also shaped to take the brass wire which will hold the split rings for the cord. Once again these were as specified in Richard Walkers drawing and produced in the same manner.
Next the brass strips were cut and formed for the arms and the brass bushes soldered into position. The brass strips were then test fitted, fettled to a true fit and once clamped up, and were then drilled for the rivets. Prior to riveting they were held in place by two temporary small bolts.
Test fitting
4 copper rivets were made, two per arms and then the bras strips were riveted to the arms. The final stage was to whip the arms over the brass strip as per the Walker drawings. A picture of an early net shows the whipping covers nearly all of the brass strip and continues for a fair way up the arms. This is vastly different from the B. James commercial version which is held in place by 5 copper rivets and no whipping whatsoever. Whipping over a flat brass surface is quite challenging and probably the hardest part of the arm build. I would have loved to either shorten this or even just rivet, but I was trying to stay true to the original design.
Once finished the arms were varnished and the whipped sleeves were treated to a few coats of extra tough flooring varnish to protect them from the wooden spreader block.
The last component to be built was the spreader block. Richard Walker only stated a vague angle for the spreader block and this is due to the type of net you wish to produce, a wide net which can be tensioned to quite a curve on the arms or a more shallow but slightly longer net if the angle is lesser and not as tensioned. The original one was made of oak, but it wasn’t long before aluminium versions were to be seen. This is often quite a contentious subject as to who, what, where and when used the alloy block. The original drawing stated oak and that is what I used.
I am quite lucky that my hallway has a tiled floor and is very handy for setting up the net. The arms can be fitted to the hinge piece, set at the required distance apart and angle of the arms drawn out onto paper to show the exact angle required for the spreader block as per individual taste. The dimensions were then transferred onto a solid oak block of wood and this was sawn to size. The hole for the main bolt was drilled out on a pillar drill. If this seems a bit Heath Robinson then other methods including trigonometry may be employed. I’ll stick with this thanks!
Arms and hinge assembled and angle of arms calculated using symmetrical tile layout.
Once arms are correct distance, slide paper underneath and line up square
Transfer measurements onto wooden block and cut and shape.
The block was then put in the vertical slide on the lathe and the two slots for the arms were cut. Whilst on the vertical slide the two wieght saving holes were bored out. I preferred to use the lathe to do this as the tolerances are quite tight and the lathe is accurate, more so than on a drill. Two large diameter holes were marginally inset into the top and bottom of the block and theses serve to seat the brass washers which prevent the wood from wearing away under the constant assembling and dismantling actions. The finished block was produced then sanded, stained and varnished.
Milling out the slots in the block.
So now all the pieces were made it was now a case of fitting and fettling it all. The ferrule had been fitted previously to the handle and it was now whipped in place along the stepped serrated part. The hinge piece had a final polish to remove production marks and the arms offered up and the pins screwed in. The arm cord was fitted and here I made a slight variation to the original build as I incorporated a quick release clip so the net can be removed more easily and not necessitate removing the arms as although a knotless large mesh is shown in the pictures for a period look, I change to a modern micromesh net for actual use in fishing with the sleeves cut off so the arms still show through. Once the net had been fitted I stepped back and had a look at the final net built for the first time.
Moment of truth, all fitted together.
I did note with amusement the thread on hand built rods and the cost of them due to the hours spent building them and hand planning versus machine. A figure of 30 hours and maybe 60 hours being mentioned. I should be so lucky if I could knock one of these out so fast.
The two different nets can be seen here side by side for comparison. The B. James is more utilitarian in finish but the original Walker net is more simplistic in design. Both are very distinct in their own right.
The picture below is of all the nets I’ve made to date. My first net I made was a loose interpretation of a Walker type net with 42 inch arms. This doesn’t have a locating shaft so is a weaker design, and is in fact by total accident a similar design to the now defunct Agutters net. This was actually the MK2 version, the earlier MK1 having only a brief lifespan.
Left: Vintage style 42 inch net. Middle B. James replica net. Right Walker original style replica net.
The net will look better when it has dulled down a bit and the varnish darkens a bit so the whipping is a bit darker. It does look a bit bright on the pics but that is down to the camera, likewise the net is a dark green in real life. I will re-visit the spreader block again and probably lighten it up a couple of shades, but that’s just cosmetics.
And finally – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Thanks for looking
Rgds
Neil
