Keeping The Bark On - How?

[James H Bennett]

I will be making some "wire trees" in a few months that probably will be given as gifts. Some YouTube builders mount them on rocks, others use wood. I'd like to mount mine on a slice of wood from a log, probably 10 inches long and an inch thick. Keeping the natural bark on the wood slice will make it look nice. However, I'm concerned that over time that bark will dry and separate from the "slab". That would NOT be cool.

Any suggestions how I can keep that bark intact on the slab?

Thanks, Jim

[Bill Howatt]

Woodturners making natural edge bowls often put CA glue along the bark/wood interface before finishing. Can't say what species is better or worse but that is a factor and also some say the time of year the tree was felled makes a difference - when sap was running more or less.
I don't think this is an exact science, so good luck.

[John Pendery]

Bill’s got it. I enjoy turning in my free time (not as much as I used to get to) and a tree that is felled in the winter stands a much better chance of hanging on to its bark. I feel like trees like walnut etc… that have thicker bark/cambium layer are more prone to the bark getting damaged and falling off. That last point might just be my imagination though.

[Jimmy Harris]

My advice would be to find thoroughly dried wood with the bark still strongly attached to it. I've got a few projects, some are a couple of decades old, with the bark still attached and I didn't do anything to help that along. It's just in my experience, if the bark is going to fall off, it tends to do so before the wood itself thoroughly dries.

[John TenEyck]

Jimmy has it correct. If the bark is firmly attached after the wood is dry it will stay on unless hit quite hard. Going a little deeper, the bark tends to stay attached to the wood if the tree is felled in the Winter. If it's cut down in the Summer the bark separates easily.

John

[Steve Demuth]

It's hit or miss, species by species, and slab by slab. I know of only two sure-fire ways to keep bark and wood together: first is to find a slab that is already air dried and has the bark firmly attached. It's likely going to stay. Using CA glue, or a penetrating epoxy anywhere the bark/cambium/wood layers are exposed together can help make sure.

Second is to start with a wet log when the bark is slipping (generally springtime). When it dries, the bark is likely going to come off, but with a little help you can generally get it to come off as a sheet. Pull it off and glue it back on with a penetrating and space filling glue like epoxy. Vacuum press is really helpful for this step, if you've got one.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Ash is pretty reliable for holding the bark in smaller diameters, up to 4" in my experience. A 10" cookie is pretty likely to crack as it dries, I would think.

[Philip Glover]

Do it the old fashion way, cut the tree in February and air dry the slices. DAMHIK

Phil

[Richard Coers]

Cut the log cookies on the bias. A lot less cracking and the bark stays on if you do like Phillip Glover said.