It all starts with a 12 foot culm of bamboo

Bamboo Rod Build Part IV, Node Staggering

With the most difficult decision out of the way (taper selection), the next step in our process is to stagger the nodes. Garrison called nodes "Job's gift to rodmakers". They represent at once the hardest and weakest point in the bamboo culm. They are prone to chipping during planing and because power fibers do not run true through nodes, there is typically nodual crooks that have to be straightened. There's also a serious hump at nodes that has to be flattened. Some makers have gone so far to eliminate them altogether by cutting them out and gluing nodeless strips back together before planing. George Barnes was a proponent of nodelss building later in his rodbuilding career.

Personally I've grown to love nodes. While they were the bane to my existence as a beginning rodmaker, I've learned some techniques to successfully deal with them and I like the interest they add to the grain of the bamboo.

Payne, like Garrison, typically used a "spiral" spacing of nodes, where all nodes are are least 1.5" apart. Most modern makers use either 3x3 or 2x2x2 spacing. As mentioned earlier, the goal is to get at least 4" (preferably 5" or more) at each ferrule station and tip top. To employ a 3x3 spacing, the the nodes are placed approximately an equal distance apart:


2x2x2 spacing separates nodes by a minimum of 2":


While I usually prefer a 2x2x2, sometimes the node spacing of the tip section of culm will just not allow for it and still provide the clear bamboo at both stations. It's easy to get the spacing you need from the butt section because there's only one ferrule station for which to plan (nodes under the grip have no effect).

Having selected a 7.5 foot taper, a quick look at the node spacing in my tip strips reveals the only possible spacing will be 3x3. Nodes for the butt section are spaced about 6" apart and then a line is drawn across the tip:


Then the tips are cut with a hacksaw:


The results of these cuts is shown here:


Now I break ranks with most bamboo rod hobbyists because to taper my strips, instead of conventional planing forms, I use a Morgan Hand Mill (more on that later). For now, that means I will need to determine the point at which a hold down screw hole will be drilled. I compare my strips to the milling anvil, mark where the hole will be drilled, and make another mark one inch below the first mark. I then cut off the bamoo strip at the second mark:


Now I move each strip to my drill press and drill a small home at the remaining mark:


This will become my reference or "zero station" for all further tapering. Since the strip will be held securely on a HDPE anvil by a screw, I don't have to give a further thought to keeping nodes where they belong:


The same basic process is applied to the twelve tip strips, making sure there's at least five inches of nodeless bamboo at both the ferrule and tip top station. As it turned out, I have 5" of clear bamboo at the ferrule station and 6" of clear bamboo at the tip top. I'm a happy camper!