From this to this. The 1/4” straightened, dried, and power planed strips are now ready to be hand planed down to an itty-bitty 1/16” triangle.
Seeking perfection, I decided to build a “professional” set of planing forms. Started with two 1”sq by 72” cold rolled steel bars.
A 60 degree “V” shaped channel is filed between the bars on both sides to hold the bamboo strips while planing. One side of the form is for butt sections and the other for tip sections. The tip side's channel tapers from .03125" to .0875", the butt side's channel tapers from.0875" to .1445" according to this Garrison taper chart.
I used a very aggressive 14” Mill Bastard File to form the channel. The channel angle is guided by a wood block cut at a 30 degree angle. Channel shoulder depth is accurately measured with a micrometer. Bolts hold the two bars together and allow the channel depths be adjusted within .001” tolerances.
It is imperative to smooth the planing surfaces so your plane blade does not gouge the metal surface and dull the plane blade. I used my Porter Cable 4x24” belt sander with #36 and #80 grit. It’s a beast and it gets the job done so much faster than a using a hand held metal file. There is a link on the last page explaining form building in excrutiatingly minute detail.
Here is what you will want to achieve with your new planing form.
