Removing Poly from Bark? Can it be done?(Without Sanding)Or darkening current finish?

[John Pond]

So I applied some General's HP Topcoat to the bark of a live edge bench,(9ft long) and the coating is almost invisible. I was going for a darker, thicker covering(just on the bark, not the Maple surface), and ideally something that would adhere the bark to the plank. This last part I would do by applying it just to the live edge on top,(I want to avoid darkening the topside) but covering the underside with it as well so that bark would be connected to the plank via a thick finish.
So, as mentioned I did not get the finish I was looking for. The bark looks almost untouched and a little too rustic. So can anyone think of a way of removing the Poly without sanding? Or a way to darken the appearance of the bark leaving the Poly in place? All suggestions are appreciated, I am quite novice.
Thanks, John

[Scott Holmes]

Removing the topcoat would probably cause the bark to come off too. You can add a water based dye to the GF topcoat to try to add a bit of color but it is always best to test your finishing schedule on scrap.

[John TenEyck]

Following up on what Scott said, can add Transtint dye to HP Poly and you can add a lot of color if you add enough. The top left color swatch on this sample board was done by adding a layer of EnduroVar laced with Transtint on top of the rest of that swatch.

As for bonding the bark to the slab, no help there I'm afraid. Most people remove the bark so they don't have to worry about it down the road because on anything that gets used it almost always comes off.

John

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[John Pond]

It's my first big project. Live and learn. But a water based dye sounds like my best bet. Thanks for the help.
In regards to securing the bark, what about Tung Oil? Nakashima's live edge bench's seemed to have held on to their bark 50 years down the road, granted they are probably treated with more regard than your average bench. But wouldn't Tung Oil get pretty hard if a thick layer was applied?

[Ted Calver]

After you exhaust the sensible methods offered above, consider what many do in turning to keep the bark on a bowl. Saturate the bark where it joins the wood with thin CA glue. It turns the bark a dark color and does a good job keeping it on. The CA will bleed into the wood if not carefully masked. My take on removing the finish would be to mask off the wood and gently soda blast the bark. You could experiment on a scrap.

[John TenEyck]

The bark stays on the wood pretty well for trees that are cut in the Fall, but falls off if the tree was cut in the Spring. All you can really do is hope the tree your wood came from was cut in the Fall. CA glue sounds like it wouldn't hurt if you can figure out how to get it in there, but Mother Nature will do what she wants in the end.

John