How to Peel Birch Bark the Right Way
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- Learn how to peel birch bark the right way so that the birch tree survives and grows back new bark. The key is to not cut through the cambium layer. If you do, the tree will die. You should definitely try this on your own trees, and be willing to lose the tree if you mess up! If nothing else you can harvest the birch tree for fire wood.
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Stockman Original is your guide through the lost arts and the forgotten crafts. Brian Stockman is a master carver with more than 50 years of experience carving all mediums from wood, to stone, horn, bone, ivory, and ice. He has a particular speciality as a scrimshander (one who does scrimshaw), carrying on the ancient art popularized by New England whalers. Brian has spent a lifetime gathering knowledge of lost arts and forgotten crafts, all of which he shares with you.
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I would love to have a piece of birch like that! It is beautiful. I am glad you are thinking of saving the tree also.
@@paulasmith9368 Thank you for checking out our channel, we appreciate your support.
Beautiful basket. I will be making one soon and have been viewing to learn the steps. Thanks for sharing.
Or make a slice before the sap flows and when the tree swells, the bark pops off on it's own without killing the tree. That's the "righter" way.
Hello John, thanks for checking in with us! That’s brilliant, l never thought of that! See, that’s what I love about doing this, as much as there is to teach there is so much to learn. I’m going to give that a try next year, thank you.
I agree.
The bark should be allowed to drop off naturally.
Thank you! I have been musing about stacked birch bark knife handles for a long time, so this is very useful information.
Howdy GenWivern2, l’m so happy this is useful to you. I’ve done the stacked handles before, they are beautiful, very Scandinavian. The most important thing to keep in mind is the tang of the knife can not be round cause the bark will twist when used. When you glue the stack together as you go you are only gluing the top layer of bark which is not committed to stick to the next layer so you need an oval or square tang to keep it from twisting.
@@StockmanOriginal Thank you again. That's the kind of thing that you only find out the hard way unless someone tells you.
Love how you make tools to make tasks easier. Good Yankee ingenuity.
Thanks Scott, sometimes ya just gotta.😉
@@StockmanOriginal work smahtah not hadah!
@@scottmcfarland2149 a-yuh.
I have a few birch trees here on my land but the storms and the woodpeckers have really done them in over the last few years, I only have a small handful now. What I do now is visit my local piece of state land and look for freshly blown down birch trees and if I need bark I tend to remove it from them as they've all had the same issue there as I've had here. I got some today for a couple of knife sheaths I want to make and I keep the scraps for fire starting.
Hey AdirondackBuzzard , thanks for checking us out. That sounds like a good way to harvest your bark. Birch are such a northern tree and it seems like a southern climate is pushing its way up to us, l don’t think they appreciate it much. I need to collect some bark and I hope l didn’t miss the peel. It’s a small window of opportunity compared to other trees.
popped off real nice Brian, as good as it gets👍 Did my first small trial of skrimshaw yesterday on a small piece of soapstone and it turned out alright thanks again for the inspiration Brian🙂
Hello Janson, that’s so cool about your scrim!! Post a picture of it on our group, l’d love to see it.
I can't wait to see what you make with the collected bark 👍
Hey Dave, we’re making a container out of it, sewn up with roots. Tuesday we should be finishing up the video on that. Looks like you’re having fun in Baliland!👍🏼
@@StockmanOriginal I can't wait to see that ☺️👌 yeah great fun here but have to go home soon 😞only a few days left here in the tropics then back to Australian winter 🥶
Although, I probably wont get the video edited and published until after Independence Day!
Doesn't harvesting the entire circumference gird the tree and kill it? I thought it was more sustainable to peel only a portion and leave a strip of that vascular layer so that the tree can regrow
Hello King Obs, thanks for checking out our channel. You’re probably right, l only peel trees that are slated for fire wood. Birch doesn’t dry at all unless you ether peel it or split it, it’s skin is so water proof.
Would this method work for harvesting bark for a birch bark canoe? Would the bark be thick enough if trying to leave the cambium layer and possibly prolong the tree's life? (I know you said be prepared for the tree to not survive but I'd like to try my best to keep a good large diameter tree going, especially if it would regrow bark on said large diameter 🤔) scheming a build crossing a pacific proa dual hull sailing canoe with birch bark canoe construction for a lightweight sail craft...
Yes, this works for peeling birch bark of any diameter, however if the tree survived it would not grow bark back in the same way. The new bark develops under the cambium layer which eventually falls free of the tree but the new bark never looks quite like it should. I heard another trick that sounds interesting, if you score the bark before peeling season the bark will pop off with a bang when the time is right. I think a birch bark vessel would work nicely for your purposes, keep me posted on your project.
Good stuff ... When is your favorite time of year to peel ? Do yo believe a full moon would help ? Leaves are all out in this video, must be June/July ? Thanks
Hey Charles, thanks for checking us out! Yeah, peeling season around here starts mid-May and ends in the latter part of July. One fellow said he had heard of scoring the birch before peeling season and when it was time the bark would pop off with a bang. Haven’t tried that yet but want to.
@@StockmanOriginal Thanks for the reply ... Yes I seen that in the comments. I'm getting anxious to try peeling some now, do you think the full moon would help ?
What time of year is best to safely harvest.
Hello Lilgrasshopperbugg, very happy to have you with us. The spring is the best time to harvest, when the tree loosens it’s bark to grow another ring of wood.
Great vdo ty
Thanks Peter!
So you're killing the tree? Why not take smaller pieces?
Hello Valerie, that tree was slated for fire wood anyway and birch doesn’t dry unless you get it out of it’s bark. I think I mentioned that in the video.
So ringing a tree pretty much kills it, correct?
Hello Kevin, yes if you take the cambium layer as well the tree will die, they call it girting. But the one l peeled in the video will live.
@@StockmanOriginal very good. Thank you for the correct words.
To clarify, if you can still see orange (cambium) that cambium will later become the paper and it will live?
Are you Native/Indigenous?
Hello Sandra, yes I am part native , among other things.
And just to be clear, my European ancestors also worked with birch bark.