Some of the Plains Cottonwood Bark

[Kenny_S]

I am down on how much Plains Cottonwood I have left so I am heading out to harvest somemore. Here is a couple of pictures of the bark.

Enjoy it...........Carve it............Then go get some more.......What a life you have!

[Ky_Whittler]

Hey Kenny, how thick and wide is that bark your using?

I am able to collect tons of it here on the river banks. Most pieces are just over a foot long, 3 inches wide and about that thick. I have a couple of pieces that are doosies. One sitting here behind me is almost forty inches long.Whittler

[Mike-in-WV]

Man I love this country! Free wood!, Lol Mike

[Colin-Partridge]

Guys I would die to have cottonwood here in Northern Canada but unfortunatly we dont have it here. I was able to find a Balsum Poplar that the railroad had cut down that was probably 150 years old and the bark was about an inch half thick but the supply of that is limited here. I had so much fun just harvesting that bark. I think it is almost as much fun getting it as carving it. People would stop and ask me why I was collecting bark and looked at me very strange when I told them I thought I had found a gold mine of bark to carve. One day I am going to drive my pickup to the mid west and go hunting for cottonwood.
Colin

[Kenny_S]

KyW,

One piece in the first load was 7 foot long and a little over 3 foot wide. Was easy to pull off the tree. I have a 4 foot by 2 foot piece of that left but The school teacher carver is coming by to look at what I have left as he is out. Told him to wait till I harvest some more. The range is from 6 inchs to 48 inches long by 4 inches to 2 foot wide,by 3 inches to 6 inches thick. Almost all of the 6 inch thick bark is gone.

Some was pretty gridy and some wasn't as bad.
Was lucky in finding it as we were riding with my wife's cousin and his wife when he said, "can you carve in cottonwood bark"? Well, the rest is history.

Yes Mike, this country id grand for sure. Found a place along the river that has lots of willow so I an thinking I will cut some for canes and walking staffs, Have an eagle to carve for a Scouter who will be receiving his Eagle Scout award in a couple of months.

[Clifford_Parker]

Gotta love free wood/bark. I located three more dead cottonwood trees last Friday and a big stand of sumac. I stopped and talked to the farmer and he said "come get all you want". Now I'm just waiting for a thaw to go collecting. I don't really want to wade through the snow to get it.

[Kenny_S]

Colin, Pleas don't die!!!!!!! We likes having you around for sure. BUT,,,,, I know what you mean on not having a particular wood, Love to have the sumac and not the posion kind. But then, I can't have everything. Dang it!!!! Going to check some more on the sumac but do know most around here has the white berries. May try farther west of here and make a joint when I go get some more bark. Nah, not the smoking kind of joint.

[Ky_Whittler]

It would be neat if we could find a way to ship this stuff without a lot of expense. Last time I shipped some wood to a call maker in californy it were real expensive for a boot box full of blanks.Of course the box was full of walnut,maple and cherry, all heavy woods.

I wonder if you could mail a box of bark across the border? Whittler

[Colin-Partridge]

Yes you can mail it across the boarder I ordered some cottonwood bark from the mid west last year but it ended up costing me $60.00 US about $80.00 Canadian for 4 pieces of bark. Not that the guy charged me a lot for the bark it was the shipping and customs that killed me. Just a little expensiveUnHappy
Colin