SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 57 



the upper end and hit it squarely with a hammer, 

 splitting the cane in halves down to the first node. 

 Now push the knife down into contact with the par- 

 tition at this node and with a similar blow cut 

 through that Next, seize each split-off half-por- 

 tion between thumb and finger and pull them apart. 

 This will split the stick evenly down to the second 

 node. Cut through this as before, again pull the 

 halves apart, and so continue until the whole length 

 of the cane is divided. With Calcutta bamboo, 

 halve it through the depressions where the leaves 

 were attached, which are on opposite sides at al- 

 ternate nodes. 



The same operation repeated will divide your 

 halves evenly into quarters, when you now set about 

 removing the outside ridges and the parts of the 

 partitions from the strips. For the ridges, the ef- 

 fective tool is a medium-coarse cross-hatched file 

 (not a mill-saw file, which will not take hold) ; and 



Cross-hatched file 



you should file straight across, at right-angles to the 

 strip (not draw-filing, sideways), which is conveni- 

 ently held for the purpose, convex side up, between 

 the jaws of an iron vise. Having filed all the ridges 

 level with the surface of the adjacent wood, you now 



