Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood as
it ages.

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

All I can think of is carefully removing the bark and gluing it back
on, or at the very least injecting glue behind the bark wherever
possible.

On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:01:44 -0400
wrote:


Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood as
it ages.

depends on the species
i have not had a piece of cherry with bark on it still

the aging is maybe better characterized as drying
i only make the distinction because in this case it is important to
understand the problem

i have thought about this problem a little but decided i did not even like
the "live" edge that much

once in a while i will leave bark on a piece i turn but that has to pass
the lathe chisel test
in other words if the bark stays on when i am done turning i leave it
on because it survived

if it falls off later they call that "character"

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

preserving the color will be the hard part
depends on the bark but you might be able to get some epoxy resin
that will soak into the bark

i think you can mix it so that you use a lower ratio of catalyst than
recommended so it can soak down in more but still cure eventually

whether or not that works depends on the product
you will have to look at the characteristics of the different products

All I can think of is carefully removing the bark and gluing it back

that sounds impossible or real close to it

on, or at the very least injecting glue behind the bark wherever

might sort of work

wrote:

Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood
as
it ages.

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

All I can think of is carefully removing the bark and gluing it back
on, or at the very least injecting glue behind the bark wherever
possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------
If this were mine, would keep the bark attached in the as found
condition
with the slab flat on a table and edge vertical.

Would run blue tape along the bottom edge creating a dam to stop the
epoxy
you are going to pour in the crack between the wood and the bark.

Either mix your own or buy some premeasured hypodermic needle type
injectors. "Get Rot" has been around for years. Expensive but it
works.

Inject the premixed low viscosity epoxy into the crack such that only
the
bottom 1/4" is filled with epoxy.

Allow the 1/4" to kick and wait 24 hours.

You now have a dam structure to catch the remaining epoxy you are
about
to inject.

Finish injecting epoxy until the crack is full.

Allow to cure for 48 hours, then remove blue tape.

Now that you have it glued in place, what are you going to do with
it?G

BTW, tempting as it might be to use TiteBond, use epoxy.

Lew

wrote in :


Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood as
it ages.

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

All I can think of is carefully removing the bark and gluing it back
on, or at the very least injecting glue behind the bark wherever
possible.

Tables of that kind that I've seen usually have a very
thick finish on them, which basically encases the bark.
Not everybody likes that look, but I suspect it's the
only way to do it that's durable. Google for "bartop
finish".

BTW, if I were doing it, I'd probably use System Three's
product. Generally I favor West System for epoxies, but
in this case I think System Three will have less color.

John

On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:51:26 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood

*IS* that the general treatment option, gluing? I know the propensity
is to leave the bark on, but I like the bare appearance. Something I
might consider. It would save a number of problems too.

Now that you have it glued in place, what are you going to do with
it?G

If all goes to order, we can negotiate a fair price and he's willing
to deliver the slab, it will be used as a side table. ~ not wide
enough to be used as much else.

"Lew Hodgett"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
wrote:

*IS* that the general treatment option, gluing? I know the
propensity
is to leave the bark on, but I like the bare appearance. Something I
might consider. It would save a number of problems too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The only way I know of to firmly maintain a wood-bark joint is
to use epoxy as previously outlined; however, you have an
executive decision to make.

Do you or do you not want bark edges?

The bark is softer than the wood and will require some kind of
treatment as suggested by J McCoy.

You may or may not like the varnished look of bark.

Good luck.

Lew

On Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 6:01:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Have the possibility/opportunity to pick up a live edge slab of
cherry. My general experience is that bark generally comes off wood as
it ages.

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

All I can think of is carefully removing the bark and gluing it back
on, or at the very least injecting glue behind the bark wherever
possible.

Indeed, the bark will flake or separate with age, drying cycles, or random impact due to normal use/abuse. Try impregnating the bark (especially the bark/wood interface) with very thin epoxy or thin CA glue.

You can reduce the glossy varnished look to a considerable degree by spraying (with suitable masking) or hand-painting the bark edge with a flat or semi-gloss lacquer.

I've used these steps on natural-edged turned bowls with good success.

Bob

On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:01:44 -0400
wrote:

I was wondering how one would treat a live edge for longevity. In
other words, how to treat it for general appearance and so the bark
stays on?

i am using some resin as an adhesive before i do a full pour
i am embedding objects into the resin

i am bringing this up because i do not need to mix much for the adhesive
part and so i am mixing a little bit more to treat some bark on a bowl i
am turning

the bark is not on the bowl edge it is just on two sides of the bowl
and my initial plan was to turn it off but after seeing part of the bark
turned and part of it natural i liked the contrast so i am going to try
the resin trick on it

On Fri, 7 Aug 2015 17:22:49 -0700
Electric Comet wrote:

the bark is not on the bowl edge it is just on two sides of the bowl
and my initial plan was to turn it off but after seeing part of the
bark turned and part of it natural i liked the contrast so i am going
to try the resin trick on it

not that happy with the result but will look at it again tomorrow
it darkened the bark considerably

used 5 parts resin to 2 parts catalyst instead of 2-to-1 just to allow it
to soak in further

not exactly what i wanted but it will still look nice
it is a beautiful piece of oak no matter what