Birch Bark Containers

[Toadflax]

I managed to glean some nice big pieces of birch bark from some fallen dead birch trees yesterday and had wondered about trying some birch bark containers (e.g. the classic cone shaped cup). However, all of the bark has small slit like holes in it, so would be unsuitable for containing a liquid. Is this usual?

Some of the bark came away with part of the woody inner bark still attached, but I'm guessing that for bark work you should be using the 'leathery' outer bark, having scraped away any remnants of the 'woody' inner.

Any thoughts /comments?


Geoff

 

[robin wood]

most birch bark work is done in scandinavia where the bark grows much cleaner and thicker than here, its actually not the very outside papery bit that is normally used nor the very inside hard woody stuff but the inner surface of the outer bark layers if that makes any sense. Having said that that is the quality you need if you are trying to do nice woven birch bark work or make the sewn boxes. If you are just after making a little cone to collect berries in and then discard it anything will do.

 

[match]

Just stumbled across this page today - a series of ways of making containers out of birch bark without the need for sewing or seams, so they could be used for liquids - of course, only if the bark itself has no holes in it

http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/barkseam.html

 

[ruggedrich]

Hello

I'm also very interested in these birch bark pots, I'm off to the sami anual market in Yokkmokk in feb, bushcraft is used every day in some form up there, and i'm am going to reserch for sure the sami way of making birch bark containers, when i return I will for sure let you know.

Richard

http://wildspiritbushcraft.co.uk

 

[rancid badger]

I came across a fallen birch last January and harvested some fantastic bark from it.It was between 1.5 to 2mm thick and about 750 to 800mm wide when removed.The "scrappy bits" have served as fantastic firelighting material-but I have also made a few containers with some of it.

this picture above shows some of the birch bark tubs, along with a couple of other bark containers.
picture below: these are all birch with cherry tops and bottoms and handmade honey suckle twine loops.

this is just one I had a go at decorating but wished I hadn't! it does at least give a bit of scale.

I had to scrape off some of the inner bark and odd bits of "skank" ( manky bits!) before doing anything else with the bark, then laid it out between sheets of "sugar paper" with a couple of fairly heavy planks of wood on top. This was because it had a tendency to curl tighter as it dried out.

To make them, I made a pattern from heavy cardboard, then used this as a template to transfer the pattern to the bark. Cutting out was an adventure, I used my chip carving knife as the blade is short, straight and extremely sharp. I cant remember now where the pattern came from, it might have been one of Ray-vons books I think. Anyway it's a bit of a faff getting all the tabs to fit into each other but once there, they lock and you can then fit the base.I used waterproof pva for these ones but you can bore small holes through the bark into the base and then knock tiny pegs or pins made from oak or some such and this will hold the bark and base together.
The top picture also shows an ash bark water carrier on the right hand side, this was stitched with spruce root, then I waterproofed the stitching with pine resin/charcoal mix. This is very effective and strong and you could probably use the resin mix rather than pva on the birch pots. The problem is keeping the resin mix soft and sticky, long enough to clag everything together.
One note of caution: before you start to cut your bark, do a few "dry runs" with card board first! I ended up with a few "extra neat" bits of shavey tinder bark before getting the hang o f it:11doh:
Anyway, I hope this helps-Oh one more thing; if your bark seems a bit thin, you can always laminate it, sticking a couple of thinner sheets together-this might also help in making your pots watertight.
Best wishes
R.B.

 

[John Fenna]

Nice work RB!
Wish I could find bark that good/big....
I have made a couple of Birch Bark containers but nothing bigger than martch boxes ir needle cases.
It realy seems that the Birch around here is either very small or so gnarlly that the bark is no good for construction work.
Boy you were lucky!

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

Geoff
I find cherry tree bark is an excellent alternative.
As the others have said you have to be very lucky to find good hole free birch bark although if you can get a piece long enough and roll it up with several layers this generally covers all the holes. It won't be particularly water tight but it will be appealing on the eye.