Thread: ...but how do i remove the bark?

Originally Posted by bcp

Hi.

I have a beautiful twisted piece of melaleuca. I want to turn it into a mantelpiece with the natural shape of the timber, but with all the bark stripped back. But the bark is very stubborn. Hard tools will damage the surface of the wood. Wire brush doesn't do anything.

I noticed that with cypress knees they boil the timber to remove the bark easily, but i'm worried that it'll damage the softer parts of the timber, and waterlog it.

Any advice? Other ideas?

Brett

Wire brush on an angle grinder will do it - it leaves a stripped finish that looks surprising natural. Ideally you need two wire brushes a hard one to get the bulk off and a softer one to finish. I recommend practicing on another piece first otherwise you'll gouge holes.

Use a mask... if its the timber Im thinking of... use a mask... and gloves and long sleeves and long strides and well.. a mask

Im not sure but theres a timber in the Gascoyne they call "snake wood" which is a bloody brilliant timber but its bark is a mongrel to remove and beneath the outer coverin theres this fine FINE stuff that STICKS in you!... not sharp till embedded but annoying as all hell and every time you touch below the bark it whooshes upward... use a mask... experience teaches

If its not... which for your sake I hope its not... use a mask anyway... evil stuff removin bark

Boil it sounds good... but me Im a mean viscious angry ant type of fella and say GO WITH THE ANGLE GRINDER!!

Don't know about twisted melaleuca, but in the past I have had pretty fair success in first letting the timeber dry for a number of weeks until the bark starts to lift away, then I have used a draw knife - I know they come from the dark side, but like I said it has worked for me, and you can get into tight corners etc

Regards & good luck

Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld

peel, peel, peel it off. I've got alot of the stuff and I know how hard it is to remove the millions of layers but you've just got to stick at it.

When you reach the innermost layers you might want to use a knife to wedge under the bark