Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: WhistlingBadger on April 13, 2021, 11:04:49 am

Title: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: WhistlingBadger on April 13, 2021, 11:04:49 am
I got a great-looking hickory stave in the mail yesterday, but it still has the bark on, and it is really hardened.  I can take off a lot of it with a hammer and chisel, but I'm wondering how to get it off from in between the fiber chords without damaging the back (and without it taking two years).  Any suggestions?
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: RyanY on April 13, 2021, 11:35:45 am
I usually start by wedging the draw knife close to the cambium under the bark at one end. If I start off right I’ve gotten large portions of the bark to just pop off. The rest can be scraped off pretty easily without damaging the back.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Eric Krewson on April 13, 2021, 11:55:57 am
I wouldn't use a hammer and chisel, too easy to cut a gouge into the sapwood below the bark.

I made a mistake and cut a pile of hickory past the mid summer, the bark was not slipping off easily, I got out my drawknife and started slicing, when I got down to the cambium layer I draw knifed most of it off until the sapwood back was peaking out in a few places. I use a scraper to carefully  remove cambium to expose the back.

I had 17 staves, it took me two weeks to get them all down to the pristine back, I chased the grain on a few that I had violated the grain on.

Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: HH~ on April 13, 2021, 09:24:47 pm
Yeah, nuthin worse than peeling dryed on hickory bark. Must be done while summer green or yer in deep kimchee.

Hedge~
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Hamish on April 13, 2021, 09:31:56 pm
I feel your pain Eric, that's a lot of work> (been there myself many times:)
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Fox on April 13, 2021, 11:18:48 pm
I wouldn't use a hammer and chisel, too easy to cut a gouge into the sapwood below the bark.

I made a mistake and cut a pile of hickory past the mid summer, the bark was not slipping off easily, I got out my drawknife and started slicing, when I got down to the cambium layer I draw knifed most of it off until the sapwood back was peaking out in a few places. I use a scraper to carefully  remove cambium to expose the back.

I had 17 staves, it took me two weeks to get them all down to the pristine back, I chased the grain on a few that I had violated the grain on.

been there ... no fun.... I used the same method.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Dances with squirrels on April 14, 2021, 06:04:35 am
I do the same thing Eric does. Not much fun. I have several in the garage that I cut in the fall a couple years ago. I didn't have a choice of when to cut it. The bark is like concrete now. They're still sitting there staring at me. I'll probably cut them up for the smoker before I'll take the bark off.  :fp

I've taken the bulk of it off with the bandsaw with success. Going at it from angles to reduce the chance of violating the sapwood. It saves a lot of work, but there's more risk involved.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Allyn T on April 14, 2021, 07:43:34 am
I used a draw knife for mine but something I want to try is get the hard bark off and use a pressure washer to remove the cambium. Bjrogg does this and says it works great
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: WhistlingBadger on April 14, 2021, 11:06:15 am
Well, I just ordered a stouter draw-knife.  Maybe I'll be headed to the car wash in a week or so.   ;D  Wish me luck, and thanks, Allyn, for the upper-body workout.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: gutpile on April 14, 2021, 02:21:53 pm
I never tried it but since it is literally the sap holding the bark on like cement.. I wonder if heating the bark with a heat gun might help.. a buddy brought me some hickory the other day that was cut last week of fall... it certainly won't pop off like a summer cut... its still wet too.. I might just try to heat it with the gun just to see if it might help getting it started anyway... gut
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Allyn T on April 14, 2021, 04:08:03 pm
Now you see why I shipped it with bark on lol, that woulda been a lot of work for me : )
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Fox on April 14, 2021, 09:42:01 pm
Yeah the pressure washer thing doesn’t work... at least it didn’t for me... I used a real proper pressure washer and all it did was get the stave wet  :-\
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Weylin on April 14, 2021, 09:55:28 pm
If you want to be extra careful and thorough you can do it this way... draw knife all the bark and most of the cambium being careful not to touch the actual wood with the draw knife, but get as close as you can. Then get a kettle of boiling water and pour it over a section. While the cambium is still hot and wet you can use a spoon to scrape it off and get a pristine back. It's tedious but it works and you wont have any nicks or violations on your back.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: TimBo on April 15, 2021, 11:32:10 am
I have used Weylin's method, and it seems like the best for me.  "Tedious but it works" beats "tedious but it mostly works" by a lot!
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: WhistlingBadger on April 15, 2021, 12:43:21 pm
OK, I'll give that a shot.  Thanks for the input, guys.
T
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Hawkdancer on April 15, 2021, 01:10:33 pm
I used my belt sander, it was still a lot of work, but I got it clean in about 2 hours.  Just have to watch carefully as you get to the cambium.  I think BJ Mentioned something about starting the lift on the bark first.  But now I have figure out why the sander is throwing the belt! (A) :fp
Hawkdancer
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Santanasaur on April 16, 2021, 10:21:01 am
I usually do it Weylin’s way if I want a pristine back or Mr Krewson’s for the streaky inner bark look. A spoon helps but I also use a rounded over screwdriver to get in the creases and crevices with woods like hornbeam. Both are laborious methods but  worth it, hickory leaves a really pretty back either way.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Green Wood on April 16, 2021, 12:01:20 pm
I would like to practice removing hickory bark, but hickory wood seems to be a little bit hard to find in East Central Florida. However, I will be heading to NC soon. Does anyone know where they sell hickory staves near Burnsville or Mars Hill (or vicinity) in Western NC?
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: JW_Halverson on April 21, 2021, 07:27:57 pm
It's only slightly easier than scrubbing the ugly off my face!

Go easy with a sharp drawknife, taking as little as you can so that you barely get into the cambium. Then set aside the drawknife early and make friends with your scraper, because the two of you are gonna spend a lot of time together.
 
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: PatM on April 21, 2021, 09:09:12 pm
The easiest way is to thin it and steam it off by running the stave through a covered pot.  You can make it close to sap up green condition that way.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: gutpile on April 22, 2021, 10:11:31 am
worked on mine last weekend got it started with a drawknife and a hammer.. it came off with all cambium..had white on bottom of bark.. not sure if it pulled a ring off with it.. but it is a clean back just worked it in strips...was a pain but only took about 30 minutes per stave..went ahead and sealed back and ends with hide glue.. all I had..  gut
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Allyn T on April 22, 2021, 10:47:12 am
I work mine with just a draw knife, takes about 40-50 minutes and leaves streaks of cambium in the valleys which I like
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: WhistlingBadger on April 22, 2021, 11:05:10 am
Got the outer bark off about half a stave last night.  Wasn't too bad.  I'll probably get the other half off tonight, then slow down and start working the cambium.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: rps3 on April 22, 2021, 01:42:27 pm
I put mine in a hot shower for 40 minutes. Flip stave half way through. Slip drawknife under bark and it comes off in large hunks.
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Hamish on April 22, 2021, 08:24:56 pm
 40mins in the shower, do you have a big water/power bill?
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: Hawkdancer on April 23, 2021, 02:40:28 am
Extra large, extra fast recovery hot water heater!, (lol)
Hawkdancer
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: rps3 on April 24, 2021, 09:34:06 pm
I dont do  a hickory stave every day, and I especially do it when the wife is not home!
Title: Re: removing dry hickory bark?
Post by: bassman211 on April 24, 2021, 11:48:35 pm
you can do it