Bark separating from NE bowl- now what?

[Rob Price]

Just when I was getting the hang of this... I turned another walnut NE bowl. Tried to go a little thinner on this one, as it dried out the bark on one end pulled loose from the sapwood. The bark is still intact, the bowl is still intact, they just don't share the same shape. I tried putting a clamp on it and tightening just a hair each day, but that just made more bark pull away. I did stiffen the bark with CA glue, maybe I stiffened it too much?


So do I leave it as is and call it 'character'? I thought about pulling the bark off and leaving it that way. Curious what you guys do.

[Tim Rinehart]

Rob, two choices obviously. One...if you think the natural (though unbarked) edge will still provide a good look...then just rip it all off and fugetaboutit.
Or...as I've done in past, let it come off naturally, but keep track of where each section lined up. I've had some success in being able to CA the bark back on but with ALOT of custom grinding/sanding of each little section since you have to custom fit it back on after things have moved. This is a lot of work and I wouldn't recommend it, but I've done it on a piece that was important to have that 'look'.
In hindsight, just remember that if you want a NE piece, need to get the wood from a tree cut in winter ideally when sap is down (down, right??).
Look forward to seeing piece finished. Remember if you are going to CA any back on...shellac the areas of the bowl on the inside/outside of rim to prevent CA stains when you put CA on the 'top' of the rim. Still may happen, but minimizes it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rob when I have bark seperate I generally take it off and then burn the rim. Doesn't look bad at all. Main thing is like Tim said get wood cut from the winter. I most always saturate the bark after finishing the outside which helps stablize it the after the inside is finished I hit the bark with CA on the inside. If you don't want it running I also use shellac to keep it where I want it.

[charlie knighton]

when a customer gets tired of a piece and wants a refund , seems a piece of bark comes loose

[Rob Price]

Thanks for the comments. The log was cut down in winter, unfortunately I haven't been able to get to it until now. The first two bowls I did from the log in Feb turned out well. i have one more piece from the log, but it's pretty checked and probably won't survive. I also came across a great piece of redbud at my local turner's meeting that I haven't been able to get to, it's checking as well. 6 other small walnut blanks (not NE bowls) waiting as well. I have more blanks than I have time- Oh for more shop time...

I'm not crazy about the bowl in the first place, looks totally different right side up than it did on the lathe, and the inside is not that smooth... I may rip the bark off and see how it looks- at then end of the day it was a good learning experience.

thanks again.

[Fred Belknap]

Something I recently did on a walnut NE when the bark came loose as it was drying. I used epoxy to re-install it, I put black printer ink in the epoxy and it gave rather nice look. It required some extra sanding and finishing. The biggest drawback I had was the epoxy getting on the outside of the bark. I couldn't figger out a way to get it off. As it is black it don't show up to badly. I also on other NE turnings that have lost their bark I used a woodburning tool and put texture on the cambian layer,I textured it in the direction that the bark runs. Good luck, I like doing NE bowls.

[Jamie Donaldson]

With me it's all bark or none. The wood obviously dried out too much to retain the bark now, so rip off the remainder and detail the rim.

[Robert Henrickson]

I'm often happy when the bark starts removing itself -- I remove the rest.