Bark (what a question from a Cat!)

I'd be careful ! Are you taking about the trunk on a dead ( or soon to be dead) tree, or is it some branches you lopped off. If its branches, maybe steaming the thing might help to loosen the bark ? If you can wait a year or two, the bark may loosen up naturally as the inner wood shrinks. Ray mears seemed to have no problem with (I think) Maple ( He was making a canoe. Some trees seem to have a naturally 'peelable' bark, and you may find that Plum is simply not one of them (). I watched a program about a woman in the med. who had perfected a technique for peeling layers of cork and treating it in such a way it could be used as clothing fabric . She was on a nice earner from all the French designers. Needless to say she was keeping quiet about the method.

Don't saw mills just rotate the thing on a giant lathe, and apply a big blade to shave it off ?

So is it off a tree trunk ( that you want to live) , or branches you can get into the workshop ? I'd go for 'steaming' for some strange reason ().

I don't think I've seen boxes made with bark finnish, but it sounds cool.

Is this any help ?

That's oak bark for tanin. My plum bark came of ok-ish but not very even. I'm not going to attack any live trees so don't panic!

This has some very nice cherry box pictures. It sounds like he used steam ( Unless he was just having a cuppa !).

Supashi-bo Kris san.

Excellent links... I must wait patiently for sap to rise .

Meanwhile I shall play with by odd bits of plum to get a feel for the material.

Cheers o link meister.

< exits screen left bowing>

ps. I give you good answer...

Del as usual I cant help you on this one. But....I used to make pipe stands out of indigenous trees from where ever I was living at the time. Most have been lost or gifted over the years and since I am in the process of moving at present I can not photo. Though I will if I remember (hopefully before Kris's bath photo's.

So I would take the green wood (small branch and twig) and bring to a boil and let soak 5 or so hours on heat. Then using hemp and binding wire I would would bend the shape I wanted using God knows what for a form. Beer bottles worked great as I could use different diameters from different brands (including the bottle neck especially).

After binding the shape I would put it in the oven for a few hours at about 200-225 F

After it dried I could simply break the bottle out. I would then bind the shapes together with hemp and wire. Cut a couple of notches here and there and a adjust the lengths, and voila! A pipe stand.

The leftover soaking water could be reboiled a bit at full boil with a bit of scrap wood. This would release the resins nicely. If using an aromatic wood or evergreen there is much one can do with the resin water. If left on a back burner at slow simmer it would fill a whole house for days. It could also be used as a stain regardless of the type of wood although very inconsistent and unpredictable as to the results.

I'm gonna see if I can find one. I think I know where I've got one stuck away.

cr3

Okay her we go. This is the very first one I ever did and it shows. Later versions were more decorative. Bark removed (immediatley after boil and soak) and then burned/etched. Pretty cool.

Good stuff wood... nice pics..don't see many pipe smokers these days...
I don't smoke but my parents did..I must admit I like the smell of a pipe or a cigar.

I shall try some of your tips...I made some balls out of dogwood shoots... I put a flint nodule in the middle of one... looks quite decorative.

Cheers

Del

DTC When making a whistle from a small willow branch you do so in the spring when the sap is rising and the bark can be slipped off the wood to complete the carving job. SS

Ahhh so!

Hi,

Check "phloem" in wikipedia

Generally removes easier when fresh cut with sap up, here it comes but you must remove the cadmium layer. It is the membrane between bark and woody material, leave it on the inside of the bark it will evaporate and turn to dust.

Score the OD length wise, hold wood chunk in vise and peel away...

Hi Del,

please post a picture of one of these boxes so we can see the beauty!

How is the bark glued in order to form bigger pieces?

What is the thickness of the bark pieces used?

I once saw an exposition on canadian-indian birch-bark canoes.

The hull was made from the canoe-birch , typically 50 to 80 cm in circumference, cut down and peeled immediately in spring or autumn. Typical length with no big holes from branches or wounds from 4 to 8m! Rolled to coils (inside out) to allow for some drying before use.

The pieces were sewn with pieces of halved roots of silver fir (abies alba).

(The inner supporting construction from fir and the floor from cedar).

I never saw a birch that would be suitable for this procedure.

So may be you have to search for some time or ask some master craftsman.

Microscopic examination may help or an expert on antiques.

Have success and please report here - also what is not working!

RHABE

Here is a pic...just a scan from the book my Daught' gave me for Christmas so the quality is a bit grainy (ho ho is that a pun?)

How's that...give me a couple of months to make one... (after 2 yeards harvesting & drying bark and 5 years learning how to use it )

Del

!Beautiful!

Dear Del,

am I right that there is no lengthwise cut?

If so, then the recipes with beating from the outside seem unlikely to give good results as the bark is stretched by the beating and will be seen to deteriorate the outside.

So I would try to cut a hole inside, as big as suitable, preferably (for speed) on a lathe. This will let some thickness of wood untouched for stability and the outside being not circular.

After this I would try cutting (3 or more) lengthwise cuts from the inside until these reach the cambium so that the residual wood can be peeled out.

May be boiling (1 hour) will ease this considerably.

Good luck

RHABE

(The right example is made from Tibetan Cherry (Prunus cerrula))

Generally there is a lengthwise cut/joint...however they do make some special pieces by a 'secret process' which has no cut, even on a long quiver. I'm thinking maybe trained woodlice?

It's a nice low tech, low cost, long project to play with ..(it makes a break from my over unity machine )

Del

RHABE,

The inner parts could be of birch or maple both being easy on your tools and easy working with them. The characteristics of each variety include stability in various temperatures/humidity ranges.

Hi Del

I have watched aboriginals getting the bark off trees by hitting the area with a length of wood. Use a base ball bat if you have one. I am not sure how large these Japanese boxes are so use an appropriate size implement. Make sure that the bark is not damaged in the process. This method seems to stretch the bark some what and put a liquid (sap) in between bark and tree. It is then easy to remove. It will take time and you have to make sure that the to be stripped area is equally beaten. Zen will make the time go by faster or eliminate it all together.The same goes for the neighbors dog but in that case you don't want the bark. Again the choice of stick is important. Ky.

I like the juxtaposition of...
hitting the area with a length of wood. Use a base ball bat if you have one.
and
Make sure that the bark is not damaged in the process....

I shall have to experiment!

You could always use foam rubber or other buffer to control the power of your paws.