Removing Bark From NE Bowls

[Dave Bunge]

Does anyone have suggestions for easy ways to remove the bark from natural edge bowls? I have some ash that looks better without the bark.

My method so far has been to turn the bowl close to final thickness, shave off most of the bark with a chisel, turn to final thickness, sand off the remaining bark with a mini drum sander on a dremel tool, then hand sand to give a smoother edge.

I'm hoping someone knows an easier way, maybe some way to treat the bark to get it to peel off easily.

 

[Harry Robinette]

If it was me I'd soak the bark side in water for 2 or 3 days so the under layer of the bark got real wet then it should peel right off.

 

[Bob Edwards]

My Method

This may not work on all woods but my method on Ash and Mesquite is to turn the piece to final thickness, usually 3/16 to 1/4. I can than "pinch the bark off with fingers or pliers. Where any is to stubborn I use a sharp small pocket knife as you would a draw knife. With a little care I seldom need to sand. If I do it's a lite touch with 400 grit. The Spalted Maple in the attachment may not be the best example.

 

[Fred Belknap]

I seldom take it off unless I have lost some already. To me most bowls look better with the bark. I notice that wood blanks that have been laying on the ground, the ground side will usually come off.

 

[Dave Bunge]

Thanks for the replies. I also usually leave the bark on. For this piece (ash crotch) the bark was already pretty beat up plus I thought it would look better with a bark free edge. See pictures below. Bowl is 12.5" x 4.5" and 1/4 - 5/16" thick.

I've also had luck peeling or snapping off the bark on cherry and walnut NE bowls, but on this piece the bark was really hard, dry and tough, so I was afraid of breaking the wood if I snapped it off. I may try a coping saw next time instead of chisel to remove most before sanding.

 

[john lucas]

I've been removing the bark and painting it back on. I'll try to find some photos when I take a break for lunch. Sometimes I might use a log that has chainsaw marks on the ends the may not include the bark all the way around. Other times the bark is just loose so I remove it.
My favorite tools are cabide burrs but I'm leaning toward purchasing a miniature drawknife.
I will often carve the lip to appear more convoluted than it did with the real bark. Then I use sponge painting techniques to add it back on. I've been playing a little with adding epoxy as a bark somewhat along the line of Marilyn Campbell but much more natural looking.
Got to get back in the shop. I'll look for the photos when I get back.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

To bring an older thread back to the front, I'm looking for suggestions on removing bark on alder and a few softwood species. I seem to get a lot of stock that the bark has already partly slipped with some remaining tenacious to fairly stuck bark.

Has anyone tried a pressure washer? For an expensive rental, plus bring a 150 pound machine by boat to my house, I would prefer to not just experiment...

Boiling seems like it might also loosen bark that's already partly slipping. I have a number of bowl blanks that I was hoping to not boil, since they are dry and ready to finish turn—but maybe that wouldn't introduce that much water anyway.

My second thought perhaps is a nylon wheel. I've seen the Makita that looks like a handheld power plane, but something that either went on a grinder or even better a 3/8 thread like the Beall buffing system would be great if it worked.

As a final option, I've used a chisel, ripped wood wedges, bamboo skewers...all sorts of things that are very labor intensive.

I didn't get a very good picture, but here's a recent one with live edges on both sides, 11" diameter. Some of the bark was sound, some had to be removed. People just love to pick them up and feel the buffed de-barked edges. Red alder especially has a rich texture, smooth with bumpy ridges.



Thanks in advance!

 

[Gretch Flo]

Does anyone have suggestions for easy ways to remove the bark from natural edge bowls? I have some ash that looks better without the bark.

The emerald ash bore has done that for me:mad:Gretch

 

[john lucas]

Other than what I mentioned above I just use a sharp carving knife. I like a straight blade chip carving knife. The blade is thinner and if sharpened well enough it will cut through wood quite easily. I try to stay along the cambium layer for the first effort at getting rid of the bark. Then I'll go back and carve away the cambium layer and may take some liberties with shaping the outside edge so it looks more natural.

 

[hockenbery]

I left the bark in the the hollow form. Soaked it up with ca glue to make it hard. The bowl I took the bark of right after turning. The wood was still quite green so I could remove most of it with my fingers. I have a drum sander that fits in the Foredom which I used to sand the remaining bark away to the wood. I made the rim black with a sharpie

Generally it is easier to remove barks from wet wood than dry wood. Removal difficulty varies with species.
Walnut is so easythat I wonder if the bark is attached to the wood in to living tree.

I usually turn away the bark on the surface.
In the case of the burl hollow form the uneven surface made that impractical.
So I left the bark and used it to make a more even surface. On the left edge the barks came off an left the burl bumps.

Al

 

[robo hippy]

Well, I just don't leave the bark on any more. First person who picks up the 'barked' pieces seems to always knock off a chip. If they buy one, they are back in a month or so asking for a broken off piece to be repaired. If the piece has been outside in the elements for weeks or months, usually shrinkage will make it loose enough to pull off, or slip a chisel or nail puller under it before putting it on the lathe. If there is any left when I am done turning, Like Bob said, I pinch it off with my fingers. I also like to leave the dark color on the rim as an accent. If the bark is sticking to the wood, I will, most of the time just turn it off, and make sure to stand out of the line of fire till it is all turned away. I do that any way when turning, but stand back even more till all the bark is off...

robo hippy

 

[R Henrickson]

Well, I just don't leave the bark on any more. [....] If the piece has been outside in the elements for weeks or months, usually shrinkage will make it loose enough to pull off, or slip a chisel or nail puller under it before putting it on the lathe. If there is any left when I am done turning, Like Bob said, I pinch it off with my fingers. I also like to leave the dark color on the rim as an accent. If the bark is sticking to the wood, I will, most of the time just turn it off, and make sure to stand out of the line of fire till it is all turned away. I do that any way when turning, but stand back even more till all the bark is off...
robo hippy

My feelings and practice also. Occasionally the bark holds so firmly on its own I can't remove it; I will not use glue to make it stay. If it is absolutely unmovable on its own, and ALL of it is so anchored, I take the easy way and let it stay. That rarely happens, almost always with thoroughly dry material if memory serves. If the wood is still green/damp, the bark generally comes off easily.

 

[john lucas]

My friend Joe Looper who passed away about 10 years ago told me that if you harvest the wood in the winter the bark will stay on. I have one of his Walnut pieces that is probably 14 or 15 years old and the bark is as solid as can be. My experience hasn't been that good which is why I often remove it.

 

[hockenbery]

My friend Joe Looper who passed away about 10 years ago told me that if you harvest the wood in the winter the bark will stay on. I have one of his Walnut pieces that is probably 14 or 15 years old and the bark is as solid as can be. My experience hasn't been that good which is why I often remove it.

The further south you get the less time there is to find dormant trees.
Maples, sycamores, sweetgum.... Still have green leaves. The usually leave out the beginning of February.
. This year our trees may be dormant Jan 12-16.

I find that CA will keep the bark on an it keeps the bark from shrinking more than the wood which usually happens if I don't soak it with Ca.
Proud a bark sand in nicely. Proud wood almost impossible to make it look right.


These days I take the bark off just about every naturals edge bowl. I want them to be utilitarian if they are large new if they are smaller the bark distracts from the clean lines of the rim.
On hollow forms I leave it on quite often.


Al

 

[Bill Boehme]

This has been an unusual year. The leaves didn't start falling until about a week ago. Normally, the leaves drop in late October or early November.

I have cut down trees in March and the cambium is so wet that the bark just slides off.The bark is very tight when the tree is cut in November or December. We used to cut wood to burn in the fireplace, but that was a lot of back breaking work and messy. Gas logs look like the real thing and create no ashes. Even though I have 25 acres of woods, picking up wood stacked on the curb after a storm is also a lot less work.

 

[Valerie Henschel]

Here in the Pacific NW, wet side, to get tight bark, we harvest at the end of the dry season, before the fall rains set in (Aug/Sept). If the ground is dry, the sap content will be lower, as the tree is not taking up as much water. Winter is wet here, and the trees lose leaves, but also start taking up water as soon as the fall rains soak the ground. So for tight bark, we harvest during or near the end of the driest season of the year, and not when the ground is wet.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I did answer in the thread of burl bark removal, I placed a picture of 3 natural edge rough turned bowl where the bark just fell off with steaming the wood.

As that turner did set the rough turned pieces above the water, it then needed very little energy to keep the rather small amount boiling, compared with boiling a full pot of water, plus a lot less water going into the wood.

Anyway when he had a look after about 2 hours and found that the bark was loose and fell off.

I assume that the cambium got saturated with moisture and lost all its adhesiveness, like what happens in he spring when the cambium swells and bark is easily removed.

 

[Valerie Henschel]

Thanks! I am experimenting with wet/dry cycles on a solid piece of apple burl. So far I have found that on this green, very tight bark piece, more that 5 wet/dry cycles have been needed to soften the very thin, curled bark over the burl surfaces. In contrast to that, only a couple cycles were needed to soften the straight bark over the adjacent limb. It would seem the thinner the bark, and more curled it is, the more it takes to soften and separate.

 

[Valerie Henschel]

I was using submersion, think I will try steaming next because of your results. Thanks!