Splitting bamboo

"Like a bamboo split". It is a Japanese expression to describe people with straight and fair personalites.

After having my first experience of bamboo splitting, I now feel this old expression is bit misleading. I don't think bamoo splits straight that easily.

I've tried a few different methods to split bamboo, but so far, I feel "a knife in a vice" method is the easiest for me to get 4 to 6mm wide strips.

I chose a cheap kitchen knife (not a samurai sword) to use as a splitting knife. It has a 10 mm x 200 mm blade, and it is a long enough to use in a vice on my workbench. The thickness of the blade is about 3 mm.

I cut off the tip of the blade with a hacksaw, so it now has a square tip. I did this, so it won't stab me in case if I slip. I also took off its cutting edge with an oil stone again for the same reason.

I put a piece of pine (40mm thick and 1500 mm long) in the vice to act as a table on which a bamboo strip can lay flat when I do splitting.

I have found out that it is a good idea to plane down the pith side of each strip to flatten nodes and other high areas. By doing this, the strip can stay flat on the table without rolling to left and rihgt as I split it.


EF 50mm f/2.5 macro

バットセクションの竹割りは無事終了。最初の何本かは、きれいに半分に割れずに片方に先細りになってしまいました。この問題は、ピス側の節とエッジを鉋で平にする事で解消しました。ただ、慣れた人ならナタ一本で５、６mmの幅に簡単に割れるのでしょうね。

それにしても、「竹を割った様な」と最初に言った人はロッドビルダーでは多分ないでしょう。