Alright, here's the way I would go-

Get a planing form + depth gauge from here:
http://www.genuinebellinger.com/planingforms.html

And find yourself a nice old Stanley ( 9 1/2, Knuckle-18, etc..) on Ebay, or your local antique store. Or, you can pick up the Lie-Nielsen plane for $125.

I'd also pick up a decent dial indicator or micrometer (should run you about $50 or so).

You can flame your cane, or make an oven to "bake" it, so you'll either need to build yerself an oven (probably $3-400), or pick up a torch (probably another $50-100).

There you go. For about a grand, you'll be all setup for making as many bamboo rods as you possibly can.

Regards,
Joe Martin