ROUGHING

The square strips of bamboo then have to be straightened a bit and then planed into non tapered equilateral triangles. The 12 strips are then bound in order and put into the oven and cooked.  This helps to temper the cane and also helps to straighten the strips.  Once they are cooked they are left to cool down still bound together in the string.

FINAL PLANING

The strips are then put into a planing form that is preset to the final dimensions using the depth gauge.  This is actually done in 2 stages, ‘first taper’ and then ‘final taper’.  The strips are then planed till they are flush with the top of the forms and no more bamboo can be removed.

During this process each strip is checked with calipers to make sure the measurements are the same on all three sides of the triangle, thus making them equilateral.

Roughed strips before being bound and put in the oven.

Depth gauge ready for final setting. The depth gauge has a 60 degree point on it that fits into the groove on the planing bar and is adjusted using the allen key bolts seen below.