The beginning of the whole process.  I have cut two pieces of 8" channel steel - the lower 5' long piece for the bed and am getting ready to weld on the smaller piece which will support the height adjustment plate and cutter shaft assembly.  I should add that the design for this endeavor began with photos of machines currently being used by other rod makers along with a lot of Kentucky windage applied as required throughout the process.

Let the games begin.  It's been a while, but after a light clean-up the sparks fly.  Thanks again to CJK for the welding lessons while fabricating CJ-7 roll cages, floor reinforcements and trailer modifications.

That ought to hold it together!

It's a little hard to see, but along with a lot of welding, grinding, drilling and tapping I spent a little time fabricating some of the detail parts.  This is a photo of the delrin rollers being turned on the lathe.  These are necessary to center the bamboo strips under the cutters and maintain firm downward pressure against the wooden support fastened to the mill bed.

Now we are making some good progress.  I decided to mount the two 60° double angle cutters on a 1" dia. shaft mounted to 1/4 thick steel a sub base.  This arrangement provides a simple means  to adjust the depth of cut and I can change pulleys to adjust cutter speed.  You can also see the in and out pressure arms mounted to two steel angles.  The delrin rollers described in the previous photo are mounted inside of the 1" square steel tubing and do a nice job of positioning and holding the bamboo strip as it is pulled through the cutters.  Behind the steel angles is a piece of 1/2 thick Plexiglas (courtesy of the Grosse Pointe Junior Hockey Association) which is the back of the cutter guard.

Another view of the cutter shaft with the two ball bearing pillow blocks and height adjustment/mounting bolts.

It is actually cutting!  I am making some initial passes to clear excess material from the hard maple block that supports the bamboo strip beneath the cutters.

And it even cuts Bamboo.  The cutter guard is complete and I am taking some test cuts on scrap bamboo to begin fine tuning cutter speed, roller pressure, and on and on and on.  Notice the heavy leather gloves.  One of the problems with pulling the strips by hand is that the Bamboo is razor sharp and the likelihood of laceration is high!  I actually applied some Neosporin just before typing this web site update.