remove bark off a tree log

You'll often save headaches by removing it before turning. Specifically, dirt collected in the bark tends to dull your tools faster than cutting clean wood, and chunks of bark flying off can hurt. Neither means that you can't, or even "shouldn't" turn with the bark on, just things to be aware of. Depending when the tree was cut, and how fast you get to it, bark removal methods range from "falls off by itself", through "peels off by hand" up to "cut off tediously with a drawknife".

I find that it depends a lot on what type of tree it is...

Some have a thin bark that is a PITA to take off before turning, so I leave it on..

Walnut bark is pretty easy to pry off, and saves a lot of cleanup later as it flies all over the shop in large sections if you leave it on..

I've been turning a lot of green pine lately, and I'm using a chisel and rubber mallet to remove as much bark as possible, to avoid the mess and shower of water... pine sap is bad enough to deal with, but wet, sticky bark all over the lathe, chisels and shop are not a good thing.. *g*

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I use both a hand axe, and a flat bar nail puller with hammer to pry and chip off the bark. If I don't take it off, I make sure to stand out of the line of fire when turning until all of the bark is off. robo hippy

I've only toured one saw mill, but it seemed to me that most of the bark was removed with high pressure water... It was maybe 20+ years ago, so I could be "mis-remembering".. *g*

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Debarkers are pretty much burr mills. Log is rotated into rotating burrs to clear off the bulk of the bark.

My answer? It's one sharpening at most, so what's firm can stay there until I cut it away. I stay safely out of the line of fire.

Then there's birch, where the flapping mess can whip your knuckles raw before you can reach the switch to turn off the lathe.

There is a "de-barker" in sawmills and wood processing plants. Some I have seen do indeed "gnaw" at the bark and shred it -- more or less.

The de-barker may be a little expensive for in-home use.

Close enough... :-)

cold work sometimes of the year, but what a savings on your back! when i used a draw knife, it took quite a while to clean a 20 foot log and the work was easy because the log was fresh fallen, but you did have to do a lot of deep bending/kneeling. maybe all that could be avoided by putting the log up on saw horses, etc. on some species you could probably peel away some of the sapwood with a high pressure washer. and by wetting down the log you could probably help prevent some checking...at the lumber mills i've been to they use sprinklers to keep the logs wet or float them in ponds.

Do lumber mills cut off logs to standard lengths before sawing them into rough boards? if so, then that might be a source of turning wood. rich

Some do. Especially veneer mills. What you're looking for are the ones with "BE" spray-painted on the ends. That means "Birdseye!" They're normally only 10" long trims. They also have the centers of peeled veneer logs, but that's rarely worth more than the firewood price.

At least here the practice of allowing civilians to carry away trims has fallen prey to liability concerns. The trims have to go through a reseller, which makes them older, more end-checked, and if compared to the price of cordwood, expensive.