You might consider building a 2 strip quad style rod. They don't require planning forms and you can get started with just a hand plane and a dail caliper.

I built my first one for about $40 worth of tools and materails.

You start with 2 squared up strips of cane. Using the hand plane remove material from the pith side to produce a long thin wedge. Every few passes of the plan you check the thickness with the calipers.

The two wedges are glued together and you hand plan the sides to finish the taper.

You can find more info at the following link, look under '2 strip quad' or PMQ 'poor man's quad'...

http://www.bamboorodmaking.com/html/pmq.html