I want to have a go at making a bark container, but when i try to remove the bark from the tree, it splits or cracks. How can i prevent this from happening, or is there a technique to it all that just comes with practice.
You're wasting your time at this time of year. You need to wait till the saps up in late April or May, at least that's how it is here abouts.
I gather ash, wych elm and willow until about the end of July but then after this, it becomes increasingly difficult to remove in usable sheets.
If you want to harvest birch bark, you're best bet is to find a sizable dead fall and use that. smaller birch tend to have thin bark, which is not that good for craft work.
Below is a selection of containers made from the barks mentioned:
The large bucket is made from a combination of ash and wych elm with wych elm bark cord handle and whipping. The taller one is ash bark, sealed with spruce resin/charcoal mix and a carrying cord from honeysuckle bark. The smaller birch bark containers are made from comparatively thick ( for the UK) 2.5-3mm bark harvested from a very large fallen birch down by the river.
you DO need to make a spud for peeling bark of decent thickness, nothing flashy, just a flatish 20-25mm wide X 4-5mm thick chisel shaped tool. it doesn't want to be sharp, better to be rounded edged if that makes sense?
Anyway, good luck.
R.B.