Planing Forms
From this to this. Using a planing form, the straightened and dried strips are now ready to be hand planed down to a specific taper.
Determining Tapers
Planing forms determine tapers. The one I made has a variable-depth 60-degree “V”-shaped channel filed between the bars to hold bamboo strips while planing. The tip side's channel tapers from .03125" to .117", the butt side's channel tapers from .117" to .144". One side of the form is for butt sections the flip side for tip sections.
Seeking perfection, I decided to build a “professional” set of planing forms. Started with two 1”sq by 72” cold rolled steel bars. I tapped and died push-pull cap screws every five inches allowing the channel depths be adjusted within .001” tolerances.
I used a very aggressive 14” Mill Bastard file to form the channel. The channel angle is guided by a wood block cut at a 30 degree angle and clamped to the bars. Channel shoulder-depth is accurately measured with a micrometer.
It is imperative to smooth the planing surfaces so your plane blade does not gouge the metal surface and dull the blade. I used my Porter Cable 4 x 24” belt sander with #36 and #80 grit. It’s a beast and it gets the job done so much faster than using a hand held metal file. Thomas Penrose’s Bamboo Fly Rod Pages, Handcrafting Your Own Set of Planing Forms explains form building in excrutiatingly minute detail.
There are about a zillion bamboo rod tapers out there. This chart was a starting point for me and I have since developed my own tapers for four, five and six weight rods.
