84 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



from angle to angle. Marks on the baseboard, at 

 A and B in Fig. 2 will note the length of 3% feet, 

 A being at the butt or larger end of the proposed 

 rod-joint. (But be it understood that the bamboo- 



Fig. 2 ' Top view of steel planing-mold 



strips should be left a little longer than the com- 

 pleted rod-section, to allow for trimming at the 

 ends.) We separate the mold-halves at this point 

 so that the space from bevel-edge to bevel-edge at 

 the mold's surface is exactly /4 inch, or half the 

 diameter wanted there for the completed joint; and 

 we separate the edges %e inch at B. 



The particular beveled faces or edges of the mold 

 that we make use of for our groove, whether one of 

 the narrower or wider ones, are those best facilitat- 

 ing the construction of a joint of the special diameter 

 wanted, though the narrowest bevel may be used 

 for any joint, if so desiring; we practically are un- 

 limited as to the larger rod-calibers that may be 

 produced, but the minimum is gauged by the %2- 

 inch beveled edges, which, when brought close to- 

 gether at one end of the mold, enable us to get out 

 the component strips for a top-joint Me inch wide 

 at its tip. But this may be further reduced when 



