Splittin Cane

Picked a culm of bamboo out for Stewart's fly rod.

Cut in half with the chop saw - two 6 ft sections.

After the first split

After a few more splits.

The rod - butt section on the left- two tips on the right - with a few extra strips just in case.

The method I finally tried that actually worked for me was to measure around the culm - marking every 1/4" - highlighting the 1" marks. I started splitting on the 1" mark opposite the drying split. Started the split with tile cutters (pliers for cutting ceramic tile) then ripped the strips apart by hand. I split in half - then into thirds - then in half - then in half again. Once the strips got smaller than an inch - I used the dull side of a bamboo froe to keep the split centered. If it runs to one side - push the fat side out - the run will head back to the center. This worked pretty good - got most strips to about 1/4" wide - about 14 from the tip section and 15 from the butt section.