Strip Prep
Chasing Nodes
Nodes are the bumps on the culm where leaves attach. They present a persistent challenge and must be flattened and smoothed to the same thickness as the rest of the culm so the finished rod is straight and true. I fight nodes at every step of the rod-making process.
The very first step I take is to grind down nodes on the outside of the culm with my orbital sander before splitting. And after splitting the culm in half, node dams on the inside should be chiseled out. Splitting the culm into strips will be a lot easier with nodes brought into submission.
Split the culm first in half, then in half again, etc. I get 16 to 18 strips out of one culm unless a couple strips don't behave. And if you are careful, you can get three rods out of two six-foot culms.
More Node Chasing
The next critical step I take in node chasing is to carefully undercut the thicker nodes on both sides and the bottom of the strip. This reduces the size of the thicker node fibers so the whole strip has a straight profile. I also sand the nodes smooth on the enamel side. Trimming down the nodes allows the beveler (and later planing form) to further straighten strips.
Changing Profile
Square strips have to be beveled into triangular shapes so that six triangular strips fit together to form the rod shaft. You can spend literally hours and hours hand planing 1/4” square strips down to a 1/16” triangle. However, you can drastically reduce hand planing time using the Baginski beveler (below) to change the square profile to a triangular profile ready for final planing on a planing form.
Heat Treating
Now is a great time to strengthen the bamboo by heat treating before final planing. Tradition teaches that heat treating makes bamboo stiffer and reduces the tendency of the rod to “take a set”, i.e. remain bent.
Twelve strips (six for the tip and six for the butt sections) can be tightly bundled up and put in an oven to be dried and strengthened. My oven is a four inch galvanized steel pipe inside an eight inch pipe. Heat guns blow down between the two pipes and up the four inch pipe where strips are suspended. Fifteen minutes at 250°, fifteen minutes at 350°, and finally, fifteen minutes at 250°.
