Nodeless construction for bamboo rod

Started my latest project for awhile now. Never in my mind I wanted to do a "nodeless" first. I was thinking of hollow built but I had problems with my last batch of bamboo. There are voids in the nodes and this may weaken the bamboo. I did not notice it until I split the bamboo.

I had to cut away all the nodes and venture into the unknown again. I should not be difficult, I guess. I have seen this Japanese fella who did he nodeless bamboo fly rod from his website. Looks great.


Then I place all these "chop sticks" into the oven for heat treatment. Surprisingly, the "chop sticks" was 58 grams lighter after the treatment.



Now I have to put them back together.. Seems like a long process but it's better than straightening them. I used Titebond III to glue up the 'chop stick'




After a couple of day, it was time to try the nodeless strip on the Medved beveller.
Tested 6 strips on the Medved but only 5 'survived', 1 was out of shape.


As for the joints, it still hold up pretty well.


So far , so good. Need to finish up all 12 strips before setting up the planing form.