I remove them before making a sword thusly. I then slide it up and down against the rattan quickly while rotating it with my other hand. This cuts off the burnt bits leaving small roundish cuts on the rattan. Repeat this process till you reach the end of the rattan. Which works out to be about the same as the length from your nose to finger tip, which usually works out to be about 36 inches.
Longer swords can hit the ground while fighting, which is quite a suprize.
When measuring rattan swords measure the whole piece of rattan, not just the blade as in real swords, cause, it s easier to remember what length to tell Frank to cut your rattan that way. There are varying theories on how much you should round the tip of your sword, because the more your round it, the more pulp you expose. This makes the tip of your sword last less long, and correspondingly effecting the life of your entire sword. Besides, It really hurts extra to get hit with on of these tips, and is more likely to cause injury. Barely round it , just enough not to cut the tape.