Removing Bark From Silver Birch

[Jungle Jane]

Hi Everyone. This is my first post so please be gentle with me

I have been carving wood for nearly a year and recently decided to have a go at carving in green wood. I was given a load of silver birch by my neighbour who had just had hers lowered and it has been seasoning since early winter. I've been told that I have to remove the bark from the wood in order for it to dry out properly and after reading a few articles on making pots and baskets out of the bark I decided to have a go myself. However I seem to be really not having much luck. I've found that the bark is still green underneath. Does that mean I can't harvest the bark off in one go? When I have been able to start stripping it I have found the bark to be quite hard and not flexable at all like I have seen elsewhere. Am I cutting too deep perhaps?

I hope someone can help me out as I really do enjoy carving in green wood and feel that it would be wonderful if I can turn the bark into something else too rather than having to burn it.

Many thanks

 

[Mandos]

Are your tools razor sharp ? what are you using to cut the bark ?

 

[Hedgecrafter]

Edit. I miss read your post.

I think you can oil the bark to help it dry slowly and stop it cracking.

Also, leave it outside to dry slowly rather than indoors.

 

[david1]

i thought the bark had to be removed when the sap is rising ?

 

[Jungle Jane]

Are your tools razor sharp ? what are you using to cut the bark ?

A very blunt pen knife and a very sharp short bladed knife. I know I need better tools for the job but wwas wondering if it was the tools that were letter me down alone and not the birch being felled at the wrong time as well.

Any recommendations on what type of knives I should be using to do this?

 

[Mesquite]

A very blunt pen knife and a very sharp short bladed knife. I know I need better tools for the job but wwas wondering if it was the tools that were letter me down alone and not the birch being felled at the wrong time as well.

Any recommendations on what type of knives I should be using to do this?

Any sharp knife is sufficient to score the bark deep enough.

Your problem is though that the wood is now seasoned you said and that's going to make it a lot harder to remove.

You can also make a tool to help you remove the bark called a spud. It's basically a piece of a branch about thumb thickness which has been sharpened into a wedge at one end which you can use to help remove the back.

Have a watch of this video about technique
[video=youtube;net2F_zMT1g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=net2F_zMT1g#t=20[/video]

 

[dwardo]

Sometimes the bark can be incredibly thin on birch, especially in warmer conditions and on younger trees. Almost tracing paper thin and just under that the more brittle cambium.
This makes it very hard to remove in any usable lengths and widths. If you are after bark for projects I find it easier to remove it from part decaying wood, larger circumference the better.

Leaving the bark on the wood will slow down the drying process but not stop it completely. Exposing the surface of the wood to the air by splitting or removing the bark will speed things up dramatically. Very rough guide but an inch of thickness per year of seasoning outdoors still in the round/log. Where as I can rough out a bow from green wood and dry it indoors and have it seasoned in a few months because its thin and exposed with no bark.
Unfortunately there is a down side to this type of quick drying and that is warping and checking (cracking) of the wood. This is caused by internal stress due to rapid moisture loss, think mud or plaster drying too quickly and cracking. The less mass there is the less internal force there is.

 

[THOaken]

I've had this problem in the past, but I finally managed to find a usuable section for a match tray holder. It was difficult to find bark that did not have cracks and tears in it and clean the back of dirt. Good advice here.