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page 39
Bamboo Journal
Italian Bamboo Rodmakers Association
I tried to use something similar to build bamboo
rods. It does not work. It is too dificult to align
the two planes and press on both sides of an
obnoxious rough bamboo strip sitting on a bed
with the same continuous pressure. I made
some tests: eventually, you lose contact with one
of the two sides of the strip and accuracy is lost.
I threw everything away after a few months of
useless efforts. On the contrary, with the hand
mill the alignment problems are greatly redu-
ced. The two scraper cutting edges operate as
zero length planes, and all you need is that the
two inserts are lowered gradually, pass after
pass on center on the bamboo strip. A job the
machine produced by Tom Morgan does in a
very nice way. Hats off!
Older stories. A lesser technique.
If we go far back and explore the distant roots
of the method described by Hoagy, we will ind
the irst attempts to use rough versions of the
planing form. I am not a rodmaking historian,
but I think the furthest roots are undoubtedly in
the US.
However, looking carefully, we ind faint traces
of another constructive technique, which
probably very few know about, the so-called
“Former Beam Technique”.
As far as I know, the only book speciically
dedicated to its description is a little book
written in 1947 by Lawton Moss, who introdu-
ces it as a method suitable to satisfy an
amateur’s aspirations. The technique is very
simple and anyone can set it up with very low
costs and without the help of any device that
needs to be built in a machine shop. The most
important characteristic of the method is that it
is based on a beam of wood with sharp edges.
The edges are planed, so to leave lat tracks on
each edge. The void space above the tracks
duplicates exactly the dimensions of the strip to
be built according to a desired taper. To make an
hexagonal rod the wood beam must be triangu-
lar and of equilateral crossection. See the
sketches below, one from Moss book, and the
other to show details not so apparent in the
Moss sketch.
be built according to a desired taper. To make an
hexagonal rod the wood beam must be triangu-
lar and of equilateral crossection. See the
sketches below, one from Moss book, and the
other to show details not so apparent in the
Moss sketch.