[dicktilley20]

Hi guys n' gals

I havnt carved bark yet and was wondering how to stop it curling up!

Would I need to soak it to preserve it?

Does it go crumbly after a while?

I like to try and use as much of the by-products as pos.

dick tilley

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

the bark is 4 to 6 in thick and no curling involved.

[Colin_Partridge]

Yes I agree no curling if obviously you havent seen cottonwood bark and as for crumbling I have never had any problem with it that way and I carve a pile of bark.
Colin

[Mark N. Akers]

The only advise I can give is pick a knife to do the basic cleaning off of the
crust and keep it for that only.Bark has a way of trashing a good knife
getting through the first layer.

[dicktilley20]

Thanks Guys!

The only bark I can get here to that sort of thickness is Giant Redwood.

Curling oak bark, it virtually curls round its self, I could try pressing it while its still wet!

dick

[Kenny_S]

Can't answer for Gaint Rewood or oak but cottonwood bark doesn't curl in general. A thick piece say from 4 to 7 inches does not curl. Well, I haven't seen any curling on thinner bark either. Carved a few Ornaments for the family from 1/2 " cottonwood bark and have not seen any curling. As for wetting bark down, Iwouldn't.

[Clifford_Parker]

IMO if your bark is thin enough to curl it is far too thin to carve. Look for trees with thicker, heavily ridged bark like poplars, willows, oaks, etc. if you can't get cottonwood bark.

[Colin_Partridge]

Now I know you talking redwood bark I have on occasion tried to carve it when I was on the west coast. The stuff I tried ot carve was driftwood bark I now know what you are talking about crumbling. The Redwood bark I tried was terrible to carve also full of sand really hard on knifes. IMHO the only bark that carves beautiful is Cottonwood, Balsum Poplar, and Black Locust. Black Locust is only about an inch and half thick on mature tree's but is beautiful to carve.
Hope this has helped
Colin