Steaming bark and glueing to carving

[Mike L Hasler]

I'm trying to finish a deer's head with the reversed side of the sycamore bark as a mosaic for the hair, to cover the carved spots, I need to steam the bark somehow to shape to the contours and be able to glue it to the carving and the horn rack. Any suggestions on steaming and glue that woould work connecting the steamed bark? Thank"s for the help

[Inadv]

Mike,

I used sycamore bark on a recent project of a dragonfly mobile for my young grandson. I used the bark to construct wings for the flies, and it worked out quite well. To begin with I soaked the sheets of bark in water for several days. This made them pliable and soft enough to cut and shape with ordinary scissors. After cutting the wings to suit I then put them between two layers of ordinary wax paper and put a weighted board on top to keep them straight while drying. Once the wings had dried completely I glued them to the flies in the appropriate locations and then immediately coated them with a slightly diluted mix of Modge-Podge and water. This, of course when dried held the wings into the proper shape in addition to sealing them and making them more durable.

I'm sure you could follow a similar process and shape them rather than pressing them straight using a sandbag as a retaining weight.

I hope this helps, and if you want more info please feel free to PM me.

L.P.

[Mike L Hasler]

Inavd, Thanks for some differant ways to look at what I want to do. The problem I have with that techniec is I'll be using small pieces of bark, typically one squre inch, and reassy after drying could be a little tricky,

I've attached a photo, of the piece, I was using hot glue to attach the bark, but not very secure

[Inadv]

Mike,

Pretty easy to see why my method(s) wouldn't work for your scenario. However, you still might want to consider the Modge-Podge or some other way to seal/protect the bark and keep it from crumbling and/or curling up when it dries. It gets really brittle as the moisture evaporates from the cellular structure.

Still it is a pretty neat material to work with, and I had great fun with it on my project. There is a similar one in the back of my mind for making butterfly wings and another mobile for the two grandkids due in August and September.

L.P.

[Mike L Hasler]

Inadv Have you ever tried soaking the bark in the mod podge for a couple of days? Just have to keep the air off the product to keep from setting? It's water based, and I would assume you'd be able to wash of the grained side and affix the piece with a set-up time of 15-20 minutes. Don't know, maybe worth trying, so thanks for the change of direction in my thinking

[Inadv]

Mike,
I've not tried the soaking. It was a very hot dry period in the middle of last summer when I did the dragonfly mobile project. The modge-podge was drying so fast on me that it was a little hard to work it. That was kinda the reason for diluting it with a bit more water to begin with. By the time I finished the first coat on the second set the first set was ready for a second coat. The application method was a small flat paintbrush.

I see you are in Texas, and so expect your experience will be similar. I mixed mine in a clean yogurt cup and made sure that the lid was on tight when not actually using it. Good luck, and please show us the finished project!

L.P.