A couple of years ago, while visiting another town, the local tree service was pruning ficus trees on the sidewalk. I managed to grab a nice chunk of one branch, about 10 cm in diameter and a bit short of 1 m long. It has been sitting on my shop since then.
Recently I promised my uncle to make a stand for his aikido uniform - think of a coat stand but with enough "arms" to support the waist and chest pieces, helmet, etc. Originally I wanted to make a simple and square upright post, but then I remembered about that ficus branch. If I could de-bark it and polish the result, it could lead to a nice, natural shape for the post itself.
Has anyone done this with reasonably dry wood? Probably every species is different in how hard the bark clings to the wood. I guess I'd need a drawknife. But then how does one polish the irregular branch? It's pretty straight, and just has bumps and crevices from a few branches / knots, and I'd like to preserve those if possible. I guess sandpaper and some concave scrapers?
Thanks for any advice!