Splitting by Harry Boyd

Here's a great splitting post from the Rodmaker's List if you missed it.  Harry Boyd is a full time rodmaker and CCI from Louisiana.  Good rods and rodmaking classes and great Boudreaux stories.  Here's a link to his web site.  http://www.canerods.com/

So, with Harry's permission, here's the post from the List:

What I do is an amalgam of ideas gleaned from others and dreamed up on my own.  Those methods are what I teach, too.

I split butt sections into 20 pieces, mid sections into 24 pieces, and tip sections into 28 pieces.  Every time.  I never have a wasted piece of bamboo even though lots and lots of leftover bamboo goes into the fire-starter box.  I try to average one top quality, customer-worthy rod per culm.  If I use a culm for more than one rod, that second rod from just-less-than-the-best-bamboo-in-the-culm is for me, or for inventory.

Sections are first cut to 1/2 the rod length plus 4" for extra length, plus 6" for node staggering.  I try to avoid nodes near ferrules and tiptops, but don't let it drive me crazy(er).  With dividers I mark butt pieces into five sections, mid pieces into six, tip pieces into seven.  Do the math and you'll see how these match up to the numbers in the paragraphs above.  Splits are started with one of these http://www.sears.com/craftsman-edge-utility-cutter/p-00937309000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2 which is far more accurate than a hammer and blade.

Initial splits are just yanked apart by hand after starting the split.  Takes about 2 minutes to go from a whole culm to 5, 6, or 7 pieces.  Internal nodal protrusions are whacked away with a small plastic hammer kinda like this one:  http://www.sears.com/northcoast-tool-inc-2inch-flat-face-mallet-in/p-SPM6520957402P?prdNo=14&blockNo=14&blockType=G14  Next each piece is marked in halves with a rule like one of these.  http://www.toolking.com/big-horn-19109-24-inch-center-find-ruler?CAWELAID=430263757&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CP-mss39yLECFY2b7QodS3UAfA   Actually mine is 12" rather than 24", and I made a paper copy of it on fluorescent orange paper, then laminated that.  Now it's flexible and wraps around the culm. 

Each of the initial 5, 6, or 7 pieces is split in half, giving me 10, 12, or 14 pieces.  Again, I start the split exactly on the center with the Craftsman Edge Utility Cutter.  Wiggle it around till the split is 6" long or so, then split on down by hand.  Bend the fat piece if one is larger than the other.

With 10, 12, or 14 good pieces now in hand, I measure and mark each piece again with the center finding rule and split again.  That gives me 20, 24, or 28 pieces.  Almost every single time.  The only times I lose a piece are when the culm has already split on its own and I don't notice that in advance.

20 butt pieces give me strips plenty large enough for even swelled butts, with plenty of extra material to remove to insure that a good edge is formed in the Bellinger or Bertram beveller.  Same is true for the 24 mid pieces for three piece rods, and 28 tip pieces.  From the 28 tip pieces I can get four tips plus a few throwaways for worm holes, etc.  From 24 mids I usually get three mid sections.  From 20 butt pieces I can get three butts.  But again, I really only try to get one top end rod per culm. 

Takes me about 30-40 minutes to split a culm, start to finish.  Much more time is spent laying out node stagger and choosing best pieces for the rod to be built.

My thanks to John Bokstrom, Bob Nunley, Ron Grantham, Jeff Fultz and plenty of others whose names don't occur to me right now for their ideas which I have worked into my own way of doing things.

Bamboo is cheap, even the good stuff.  No need to use material that's even debatable in an expensive rod.

Best,
Harry