A bucket list item for me is learning how to build a split cane Bamboo Fly rod. That process started this morning at a week long class I’m taking at Sunny Brook Trout Club under the instruction of Master Rod Builder JD Wagner.
Posting from my phone, so we’ll see if this works.
A Culm of Tonkin Cane and some splitting tools
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One section split in half with a simple froe and mallet:
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Flaming the cane with a 500000 BTU torch to dry out the cane and give the exterior a nice golden color:
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A look at the culm after the nodes have been smoothed with a file:
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From here it’s splitting the half into thirds and then each third into half yielding 6 total strips from one half of the culm. There is a slick trick to get them to split exactly in half which is done by adding side pressure while pushing into a framing nail:
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Next, the most tedious part of the job, straightening the bamboo blanks with heat and sighting by eye. When heated, the blanks become very plastic:
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Next, the straight strips are planed in a wooden form to yield perfectly uniform untapered blanks. They are just rough planed at this point, not to final dimension. 6 strips form a perfect hexagon. The remnants of the pith is in the center of the blank and the hard and stiff power fibers are outside. These are for the butt section:
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