Birchbark, its processing and application as backing on bows

Reto · Post by **Reto** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:51 pm

Alam ed Din, Adnan

I am currently in touch with John from

http://www.barkcanoe.com/accessories.htm

he has excellent rawmaterial to cover bows. I will let you know once I got my parcel about my experience. Meanwhile do not cut off too many trees in Germany

.

Further, I am also in loose contact with a Chinese supplier/producer of birch bark (). The supplier told me, he smokes the material over an oven/fire before he takes off the inner layers. Once I know more about this process I will publish the results as well. Maybe somebody else knows more about this issue..

R

Alam ed Din, Adnan · Post by **Alam ed Din, Adnan** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 3:27 pm

Reto
Sounds very interesting. Especially the part on smoking the bark over an oven to take out the inner layer....

(PS:.....in Germany

...you know, when you make omelette, you got to break some eggs.......)

Greetings & Salaam

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 1:22 am

True, Jack.

Wild Russian · Post by **Wild Russian** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:52 am

Hi all,
I don't know exactly why seawater were used for a such long period, I think pliability was in issue, but you can simply boil birchbark in salted water for some hours and apply it when it's hot and wet with a hide glue, like some tribes of Russian North and Siberia did. They boiled corewood in some cases too.

Max

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:12 am

Wild; Boiling wood is a fast, safe way to dry it! The heat breaks the cell walls but the water prevents it from cracking. This is also an old technique of chair makers in this country who want to dry small parts fast.

Thanks for that info. And we don't have to understand completely how something works to try it. Jack.

Wild Russian · Post by **Wild Russian** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:17 am

jack farrell wrote:

And we don't have to understand completely how something works to try it.

I want

About boiling: - Innersells(?) liquid is a kind of syrup, with salts and sugars. After drying, water evaporates but most of salts are on the walls of sells as microcrystals. Boiling helps put them away. Maybe salted water can create osmotic effect?
But applying of hot and wet bark works - bark is more elastic this way, animal and PVA glues tested.

Markus · Post by **Markus** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:42 pm

Birchbark, its processing and application as backing on bows

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