To Bark Or Not To Bark, This Is The Question!

[Jerry Lucchi]

Question for the stick carvers. I have done a few sticks and always stripped the bark. My question is if I don't remove the bark and I apply a finish directly to the bark will the bark dry out two or three down the road and all fall off? By the way it's a dried hickory stick and the bark is hard as iron. (I think I saw sparks when I cut it.)Appreciate your expert advice. THANKS JERRY

[Kenny_S]

Jerry, I have a Hickory stick that is 10 years old that has the bark on and sprayed with Deft.
Now, I haven't used it much but it has been several hikes in the past.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Jerry... Depends on when you harvested the stick. If the stick was harvested in the spring the chances are that the bark will eventually seperate from the stick. One of the guys in a previous thread described the resaon in scientific terms but basically it's got to do with the tree in a growth period. If you harvest the stick in the winter the chances are that the bark will remain securely adhered to the stick forever and ever and a sealer will only insure that fact. To test this theory just think back to when you may have tried to skin a stick in the spring and early summer compared to the fall and winter. A spring skinning is almost like shucking corn! I prefer to skin and stain the canes that I make but I did make a woodspirit cane out of Sweetgum sapling that I harvested in the fall a couple of years back and left the bark on it because I liked the texture of the bark so much. As far as I know the fellow that I gave it to is still using it.

[Jerry Lucchi]

Hey guys, thanks for the information. I think i'm going to give it a try. Jerry