I'm working on several cherry countertops that are to have live edges
with the bark peeled off. I'm not sure if these trees were cut in
winter, but I'm having difficulty getting underneath the cambium.
I've been able to hog off the bulk of the bark with a drawknife, but
it leaves a pretty thick layer of furry stuff that doesn't really want
to pop off too well. What I've been doing is sort of scraping it off
with one side of the knife, and then taking an orbital with some 100
grit to get the rest. Trouble is, I'd have to sand pretty deep into
the surrounding wood to get all the brown out of the low spots. (And
I'm not even sure I want to, given the blinding whiteness of the
underlying sapwood....but that's a different issue for a different
forum - aka "The Client") I'm wondering if any of you all have a
secret technique for getting the cambium layer to separate "cleanly"
from the sapwood, leaving just that really thin layer of brown
coloration. Has anyone tried soaking it? I'm hesitant since these
planks are already a bit thin and warped.

On a related note, do most of you put a back-bevel on your
drawknives? I'm thinking that one might help prevent accidental
gouging when debarking. Sound right?

Thanks all.

JP

On Feb 24, 9:23 pm, Jay Pique wrote:
I'm working on several cherry countertops that are to have live edges
with the bark peeled off. I'm not sure if these trees were cut in
winter, but I'm having difficulty getting underneath the cambium.
I've been able to hog off the bulk of the bark with a drawknife, but
it leaves a pretty thick layer of furry stuff that doesn't really want
to pop off too well. What I've been doing is sort of scraping it off
with one side of the knife, and then taking an orbital with some 100
grit to get the rest. Trouble is, I'd have to sand pretty deep into
the surrounding wood to get all the brown out of the low spots. (And
I'm not even sure I want to, given the blinding whiteness of the
underlying sapwood....but that's a different issue for a different
forum - aka "The Client") I'm wondering if any of you all have a
secret technique for getting the cambium layer to separate "cleanly"
from the sapwood, leaving just that really thin layer of brown
coloration. Has anyone tried soaking it? I'm hesitant since these
planks are already a bit thin and warped.

On a related note, do most of you put a back-bevel on your
drawknives? I'm thinking that one might help prevent accidental
gouging when debarking. Sound right?

I don't have a drawknife. When I've needed to do this I use a chisel
to get the worst of it off, and then a spokeshave, then sanding. You
could perhaps switch to a spokeshave once you get close to avoid
digging in.

-Kevin

On Feb 24, 10:34*pm, wrote:
On Feb 24, 9:23 pm, Jay Pique wrote:
I'm working on several cherry countertops that are to have live edges
with the bark peeled off snip

I don't have a drawknife. When I've needed to do this I use a chisel
to get the worst of it off, and then a spokeshave, then sanding. *You
could perhaps switch to a spokeshave once you get close to avoid
digging in.

Thanks, Kevin. I'm sort of getting the hang of it now. We've decided
to go all the way down to sapwood, so I've still got some hand sanding
to do to get into the low spots, but it comes off pretty easy now that
the bulk of it has been scraped away.

JP

"Jay Pique" wrote in message
...

On a related note, do most of you put a back-bevel on your
drawknives? I'm thinking that one might help prevent accidental
gouging when debarking. Sound right?



Whether to back bevel or not is a matter of debate. I put about a five
degree back bevel on mine.