Bamboo winders

[Ronnie]

They were probably trying to improve there hooking ratio by using a heavy bung attached to the quill!

[Kirpan]

There is not a lot of taper, I also just noticed [you all keep me looking at them ] one of the floats is left natural but with a drop of something very dark / black dropped into the end of the quill just to create a black tip

[PDuffield]

I found instructions for making 'plugged floats' in 'The Family Receipt Book' (Second American Edition) by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell, published in 1819. The inside front page acknowledges that the 'valuable receipts' are selected from ancient and modern works, so it could have been taken from a book originally published a great deal earlier.



The book is available online here: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=od8-AAAAYAAJ&, but very little of it is fishing related, so to save searching and squinting, the instructions are as follows:

To make Quill Floats for Fishing.

Take any quantity of swan or goose quills you may want, cut off the barrel part from that where the feathers grow, and with a thick piece of wire wrapped round the end with cotton wool, clear the inside of the quill from the film; put in a small piece of pitch, about the size of a sweet pea, and, with the wire, force it to the end, ramming it close; this will effectually keep out the water; put a small piece of cotton wool upon the pitch, sufficient, when forced close into the quill, to form a space of a quarter of an inch, and, upon the cotton, add another piece of pitch of the same size as the first, which will secure the cotton, and make the float easily discerned on the water; take a piece of sallow hazel, or other soft wood, about the same size as the circumference of the quill, end about two inches long; fit it neatly about 3-4ths of an inch into the quill, and fasten it with a cement made of powdered bees-wax, rosin and chalk, melted over the fire in a ladle; dip the plug in when it is sufficiently melted and incorporated, and put into it immediately a piece of doubled brass wire, the loop end formed into a round eye, and the other twisted, which will pass into the plug like a screw, holding the wire fast with a pair of small pliers, and turning the float round; the line passes through the eye of the wire; the top of the float is made fast to the line by a hoop made of the barrel part of the quill, and rather wider than the float to admit the thickness of the line; by means of this hoop the float may be shifted at pleasure, according to the depth you are inclined to fish; the hoops may be dyed red by the following method :—Take some stale urine, and put to it as much Brazil wood in powder as will make it a deep red ; then take some fair water and put a handful of salt into it, and a small quantity of argol, stirring them till they are dissolved; boil them over the fire ín a saucepan, and when cold, put in the quills, well scraped, and let them lie awhile in it; then take them out, and put them into the urine made with the Brazil wood, and let them continue a fortnight; when dry, rub them with a woollen cloth, and they will be transparent. The hoops must be cut with a sharp knife, or the quill will split.

There are also instructions for clarifying and hardening quills. I assume for writing, but perhaps this is a clue to part of the process used to make tapered quill floats?

Paul

[Vole]

Good find! I thought that black speck might be pitch or tar - something to try in version 2.

Such emphasis on inserting the sight-aid materials rather than using paint does make one wonder how rubbish the paints of the day must have been!
After reading the instructions for dyeing quill caps, I feel obliged to affirm that I used food dye for my attempts, and shall continue. I might try alum as a mordant, but that's the limit!

[Santiago]

Very interesting!!

[Mike Wilson]

Out of interest some 30 odd years ago I came across an old rotted bag at a school jumble sale with old tackle inside. I noted at the time that in place of paint all the floats [20 goose/swan quills] were tipped with red sealing wax. Indeed there were quite a few sticks of 'wax' in the bag. Sadly, in my ignorance, I threw them all away. Just another of my mistakes over the years

Mike

[Kirpan]

I bet we are all running around looking for sealing wax !

[Santiago]

Isn't sealing wax just beeswax! You can purchase it from Hobbycraft.

[Kirpan]

No, sealing wax is a hard substance [quite brittle ] not waxy at all, it melts with heat then hardens as it cools, you should be able to get it from hobbycraft , but you would probably find it with the stationary, used for sealing letters and post

[Crucian]

P Duffield, how fascinating, thanks for posting.

Could I please ask if you would mind posting the further information on clarifying and hardening quills.

I am trying to gather as much information as possible on the subject, as I wish to attempt making replicas of some of the lovely victorian floats.

Much appreciated.