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page 42
Bamboo Journal
Italian Bamboo Rodmakers Association
And if you manage to be “almost right” it is
because by eye you keep under control the
thickness of the air gap between the strip
(enamel side) and the edge of the grooves, both
in the right groove and in the left one. The best
you can do is to try to keep these air gaps as
equal as possible, by comparing them when you
transfer the trip from one groove to the other.
Hard to do at few mils accuracy by eye. Also,
very tiring!
Realistically, the situation at the end of the
planing session is as shown in the igure: in the
left groove the strip leans on point “a”, which is
above point “c”, but when it is in the right
groove it leans in “b”, which is now under “c”.
Obviously, “a” and “b” are arranged symmetri-
cally compared to “c”. The strip its perfectly in
the two grooves (it will not wobble), the catheti
are exactly at 90 degrees, so one could be happy.
Perfection has been achieved! But it is far from
being true, as the two catheti are unequal, and
you will quickly realize that once glueing is
done the section will look “strange” slightly
rhomboidal or worse, trapezoidal. Slightly, but
noticeably. If you measure the diagonals instead
of measuring the diameters, you will be disap-
pointed. If you are real good, there will be a
difference typically between 4 to 6 mils! With
just moderate accuracy, you can easily double
that igure. So, why to be obsessed to keep the
diameters within one or two mils?
Dissatisied with the results with the planing
form and wanting to use a system that would
minimise the differences between the diagonals,
I started thinking of the method I saw in Brora. I
felt that it could guarantee great symmetry in
planing the strips.
From that moment, I started working on the
method and now, two years later, I think I have
achieved interesting results, although improva-
ble, I am sure. So this booklet is a “Progress
Report” on the method. In future, if there is
enough interest, I would like to publish a small
book with many technical details that do not it
here, and more results about the performance
of the method.
A preliminary result appears enlarged at the
beginning of the text, under the title (I thank my
friend Daniele Vigano’ for the photo and the
many suggestions during his lunch breaks): a
symmetrical square section.
Also, you can notice that the external power
ibres are almost untouched. The diameters
differ by slightly less than two mils, and the
diagonals are within four mils, better than I ever
achieved with a planing form. Exactly the
objective I had set for myself.
I think the method could interest some of you.
Especially those who have the additional hobby
of woodworking (a cabinetmaker would learn
the method immediately, certainly the cabinet-
maker who unglued the Leonard for William
Hardy). Anyway, I think it could interest those
who love the planes, love tuning them with care
and do not consider sharpening the blades a
bore. With this, I have surely gambled the
interest of those strongly biased toward the
hand mill! But they would be wrong not to read
further. Some points, like the part that concerns
the method to create the taper, could be at the
base of the construction of a rough but accurate
homemade hand mill. This small booklet
describes in part what I presented at the X
anniversary of the foundation of IBRA in May
2014. Although this booklet describes a long
solitary exploration that I wanted to do without
talking to anyone until the inal phase, it is with
great pleasure to aknowledge the great impor-
tance IBRA had in all this. Without the stimulus
of the atmosphere that IBRA has created in
these yeas with the wise and farsighted leader-
ship of Gabriele Gori, whom I thank with all my
heart, all this would not have been possible. I
thank Alberto Poratelli for letting me have a
copy of Moss’s book last Christmas, for the
encouragement, the help in editing, the illustra-
tions and the continuous patient help in prepa-
ring this article for the Bamboo Journal. I thank
Massimo Giuliani for his attention in moments
of discomfort, for the advice and the photos of
his very reined rods and the ish he catches. I
know I will never get close to his levels in both
ields. I thank Jo Nese for the late Friday afterno-
on chats on the mobile while he travels through
various Italian regions. I thank MOG, with whom
I sometimes disagree, for his rabdomantic art in
inding unobtainable things. Like three original
copies of Moss’s book; one for himself, the
others for Alberto and Gabriele. It is also thanks
to him that I managed to get an electronic copy
of Moss’s book from Alberto. I thank Moreno
Borriero for the encouragement and Doria, his
kind wife, for help with the English translation
in frenetic conditions, all because of me.