famous Scottie brand

On the big Meadow lake at Somerley I passed a chap in a Trilby hat carrying a lovely Mk.IV and Walker landing net. He even smiled and said ‘Good evening’ which is very unusual at Somerley, where ‘grunt’ is the accepted greeting, and properly enunciated works invoke an incredulous wide-eyed stare.The arguments for and against cane have been debated many times, in print and in angler’s pubs. It all seems rather pointless really. Each angler should fish with whatever tackle he fancies, and it’s certainly not the business of any other angler to deny or decry his right to do so. Anyway, for good or not, the few cane rod manufacturers remaining in business are having a field day. The days of speculative cane rod-building for stock are long gone. No longer is it possible to press one’s nose against the shop window to thrill to the hallowed cane rod building names of yesteryear – Allcocks, Hardy’s, Milwards, James. It’s a bespoke market these days, and a waiting game of breathless anticipation.One very famous name from the past does survive however – Scottie, once made by the famous old firm of J.S.Sharpe, of Aberdeen. Indeed, the Scottie brand is not just surviving, it’s positively thriving, although the brand has changed ownership twice since its heyday in the fifties and sixties. The famous Scottie impregnated rods were made for many years in Aberdeen, and gained a fine world-wide reputation for quality and longevity. The advent of inexpensive hollow fibreglass rods in the late sixties spelt disaster for Sharpes, as it did for all other cane makers, and the business was eventually sold to the Redditch firm of Taylor and Johnson. The resurgence of split cane had not yet got underway, and the company was sold once again, to the small, but far-sighted company of J.Weaver and Son, of Harrow in north London. For John Weaver, and his partner, son Steve, the purchase was a bold but canny move. Along with the world-famous Scottie brand-mark came all the magnificent J.S.Sharpe rod-making machinery, and large stocks of top quality Tonkin cane. An unexpected additional bonus was discovered during the transfer of the equipment from Redditch – a small, but highly important wooden box of hand-written cards, listing taper and construction details of all the rods ever made by J.S.Sharpe. Truly a piece of angling history. Using the information contained on these cards, John Weaver and his team can and do produce rods, the like of which have been little seen for a generation.The all-important Sharpes milling machine is worthy of special mention. It was made for Rolls Royce in 1940, and was first used in the manufacture of Merlin engines for the Battle of Britain Spitfires. Rolls Royce being Rolls Royce, it is as good now as on the day it was made. Steve Weaver told me that tragically, a second identical machine was at some time broken up with a sledge-hammer, due to lack of space in the workshop. What a desperate waste of an engineering masterpiece. The remaining machine allows consistently high quality cane to be produced in high volume, permitting output to be sold to professional rod-makers throughout the world. The origin of many an expensive named brand cane rod can traced back to this grand old Rolls Royce machine in Weaver factory. As to which named brands are supplied, the partners are far too discrete to say.One summer day with the temperature well into the nineties, I went along to the J. Weaver and Son works to see and photograph the process. It was quite an experience.Steve Weaver is a big, cheerful, open man. He told me candidly that there is less mystique in rod making than the trade has always liked to pretend. ‘Split-cane rod making,’ said John, ‘is about skill, patience, and the discipline to work to very close tolerances.’ Taking turns demonstrate the various processes, John and Steve showed me how all that is translated into a first-class split-cane rod.1. According to which design of rod is being constructed, the lengths of seasoned Tonkin cane are chosen for wall thickness, and closeness of fibres. The canes are then baked in a vertical oven for 8 hours. This baking hardens the cane, and reduces the moisture content to under 2%.2. The canes are further hardened and given their variegated colour by very careful flaming over a gas jet. The cane is moved constantly to ensure that there is no deep scorching of the all-important ‘power fibres’ just under the surface enamel.3. The connecting septums inside each raised ‘node’ are knocked out.4. Sections of cane, about *” wide are split from the pole by hand. This is a highly skilled operation, and much valuable cane can be wasted by an unpracticed hand. Sawing would be much less wasteful, but hand-splitting allows the fibres to run from end to end of the section, adding strength and resilience.5. The raised ‘nodes’ on the outside of each strip are very carefully flattened on a linishing sander (a moving bed of abrasive fabric). It is important here not to break into the power fibres under the surface of the enamel.6. The sections are placed individually onto the milling machine, where exactly identical 61° tapering strips are formed by high-speed tungsten cutters.7. The six strips that form the finished hexagonal shape are selected, and taped together with the power fibres on the outside, and the flattened nodes appearing on alternate strips. This is important, because the node area is the weakest part of the strip, and this staggering method ensures that each node is reinforced by straight grain material on either side.8. The tape holding the strips is cut, and the strips allowed to fan out to allow the Aerolite 308 glue to be applied.9. The glue-coated strips are rolled back together to form the hexagon, with a few turns of thin string holding them loosely in place.10. Stringing is done under considerable pressure. With the whole joint securely held in a large chuck, it is spun at quite high speed while the string is guided by hand back and forth over the glued joint. Having watched the operation, which takes just a few seconds, I have to say I think it’s amazing that these men still have all their fingers.11. The tightly strung joint is then rolled on a flat surface to ensure that it is straight. Sighting down the joint with a practiced eye, twists and small kinks are carefully removed.12. The joint is baked at a low heat to aid hardening of the glue.13. The string is removed.14. Excess glue, and the remnants of the brittle outer covering of the cane are removed initially with the linishing sander, and then by a steady hand-held sanding pad. The last pass is a very fine hand scraping. This is a process that some cane-makers of old took too far. Once the enamel is removed, it is important that there is minimum disturbance to the important power fibre layer underneath. More scraping results in a very attractive grain effect, but it also means that the power fibre layer has been compromised.15. If the rod is to be impregnated, the blanks are immersed in a phenolic resin bath for 10 – 14 days. This expensive and time-consuming process stabilises the fibres, at the same time making them completely waterproof, and highly resistant to ‘sets’. Further protection with varnish is unnecessary, although owners can choose to have this added if they prefer a high gloss finish. A very high quality is assured by the use of a dip system. Hardening is completed on a rotating, heated, and dust-proof rack.16. The impregnated blank is oven baked to cure the resin, after which it is lightly buffed to give the well-known Scottie low-gloss finish. The blank is then ready for use.The impregnation of split cane is a well proven process. A great many of Sharpes impregnated Scottie rods dating from the 1950’s and 1960’s are still in existence, and in excellent condition. Thousands of fly and spinning rods were exported to the United States where, if they have not been consigned to the ‘trash can’ following the arrival of a carbon wand, they are probably propped up in corners of fishing dens, awaiting re-discovery.The new range of Scottie rods is extensive, with a new 11′ carp rod designed by Chris Ball and a lovely barbel rod by Fred Crouch, as well as the usual Mk IV types, and some new stalker designs. The standard fly rod range is very extensive as you might guess with the Sharpes pedigree, from a 6′ Midge rod throwing a 4/5 line to a 13′ spliced double-hander pushing an AFTM 9. If you’ve a itch for any other rod once made by Sharpes of Aberdeen, a telephone call will allow you to discover whether it can still be made. Given time, the answer will almost certainly be ‘yes’. The hot news is of a reproduction whole cane butt ‘Avocet’. With old B. James Avocets now changing hands at £650 this is very good news indeed. Steve Weaver is also experimenting with hollow built rods, reinforced with an internal tube of carbon fibre. A process which brought a involuntary shudder to this very traditionalist writer.Amazingly, apart from the line-guides, all the fittings for these new Scottie rods are made ‘in house’. John Weaver himself runs the engineering side of the business, and watches with some satisfaction as modern automatic machines produce high quality pieces in aluminium, nickel silver, and brass. Even the reinforced ferrules are home grown. John is particularly pleased to have broken into the important American market, where quality and finish of cane and fittings are expected to be of the highest standard.I looked hard at these rods and thought them excellent. Judged against other rods of comparable quality, prices are very competitive indeed. Deliveries vary. They sensibly try to make rod types in batches to keep costs down. >From what I saw, patience is rewarded with a first-class product that will give years of reliable service. They don’t ask for payment until the rod is completed, or until they are about to inscribe or engrave the new owner’s name – so they certainly have an incentive to deliver in good time.The new makers of the famous Scottie brand, John and Steve Weaver, are taking nothing for granted, but they admit that things are going along very nicely. After my inspection of their operation, I’m not in the least bit surprised.

By John Olliff-Cooper