SPLIT BAMBOO RODMAKING 187 



useful hints on rodmaking. He impressed 

 me with the fact that the long, thin cutting iron 

 of the small plane was almost useless for cut- 

 ting Tonkin cane, but with the alterations he 

 advocated the cutter became a sharp scraper 

 rather than a plane, and it did not take me 

 very long to find that his method was better 

 than any other one that I had ever tried. 



Fig. 55- Dotted Line Shows Angle for Regrinding 

 Plane Iron. 



Purchase a Stanley No. 220 plane with 

 extra iron. This is an adjustable iron block 

 plane 7^/2 inches in length, and the width of 

 the iron is i% inches. If you cannot grind 

 the two irons properly, take them to a grinder 

 and tell him what is wanted. In Fig. 55 the 

 shape of the cutting edge of the iron as it 

 comes from the shop is given, while the dotted 

 line shows the edge as it must be after grind- 

 ing. The cutting face of the iron thus meets 

 the bamboo at an angle of about 70 degrees 

 nearly a right angle and becomes in effect a 

 sharp scraper which will not splinter the cane 

 nor bite into knots. Tonkin cane being very 

 hard, however, it will be necessary to have 



