keeping bark on the outside of a bowl

[Stephen Hibbs]

Help! I've been making a bunch of bowls that have a small amount of bark on the outside with decent results, but I often have to cut it down past where I want to in order to avoid all the weird tearout where the bark meets the wood (the bark is pulling back from where it is attached to the wood and is hitting the gouge, but the far side of it is fine). I've tried using CA with poor results, and my main method right now is to let it dry overnight, then go lightly with a sharp gouge and then the 60 grit gouge to fix up the transition. Is there a better way?

[Bill Wyko]

I'd like to know how to do that as well. Any pics of a before and after anyone?

[Jim Ketron]

I think a lot depends on how sharp your gouge is and tool presentation. Sometimes you have to try different cuts to achieve good results on end grain. Then some woods just don't want to cooperate at all, take lite cuts for the last few passes to clean it up. then if all else fails the 80 grit gouge.

[Stephen Hibbs]

OK, I went to the lathe after I asked this, just to test an idea :D , and I figured out a decent method. While the pith is toward the headstock and I'm roughing betwixt centers, I do the majority of hard carving and shaping, thus putting the 'tearout' on the opposite side form usual. I let it dry a bit for 2 hours or so, and then I switched it around to chuck it, as I always do, and then used very light cuts with a sharp gouge presenting the round bottom towards the headstock and progressed slowly towards the headstock. This allowed for minimum impact of the bark as it came around. This not only smoothed the part originally impacted when roughing, but it did minimum damage to the side it was now hitting. It required much less of the 60 grit gouging. I suggest this method, and I'll post pictures when the bowl's fully done next week.

[George Tokarev]

I think a lot depends on how sharp your gouge is and tool presentation. Sometimes you have to try different cuts to achieve good results on end grain. Then some woods just don't want to cooperate at all, take lite cuts for the last few passes to clean it up. then if all else fails the 80 grit gouge.

Always the answer, though what your gouge is will determine what it's capable of doing at all. With narrow nosed gouges and interrupted edges, it's easy to get underneath and tear out. Why I mentioned broader forms as more friendly to bark retention. When the band of corky material is broader it's more likely to recoil than fracture. Ditto the walls themselves, though their recoil often results in thicker edges where the bevel lacks stabilizing contact, it's easier to sand this to thickness. Since this is almost always necessary anyway to take the wood down to the level of the newly-dried cork layer, it's the best way to go, in my opinion.

Another advantage to the broader form is that you can display more bark in less thickness. Of course, tall or wide, there's not much chance of holding bark after a few weeks in the elements.