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| I have never worked with Beech bark until now, and im sure most of you havnt either. Have i made a new discovery!? I was walking through the woods and i saw a falen branch from a Beech Tree. It had been there some time and had dried out. The bark had come away from the wood in curved sheets: |
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| The bark is strong like board |
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A few things about Beech bark.... You can cut across it easily with a saw.
But to cut down it length ways i recommend scoring it all the way through because it is a relatively fragile material.
You may wish to cut a test piece of bark to try out techniques on like i did. I also found that it was really easy to drill neat wholes just with the tip of your knife. |
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| Ok, to start off, select a piece of bark with a good curve
in it (like a gutter) Then cut this into a length from which you can make
the sides of the container. You can shave off the outer dark bark with
your knife to reveal an orangey blown bark beneath. |
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| Here's the piece of bark i used as material for the sides: |
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| Cut two side peices from this of an equal length. Then
glue them together with strong wood glue like so:
I used masking tape to hold the sides tightly together. |
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| Once the glue is fully dry you can make the base and lid. Start by carving a plank of wood (i used Ash wood) |
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| Draw round the Base of the container onto the plank of wood |
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| Cut the shape out and sand to the exact size |
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| Now do the same for the top part to make the lid. |
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| To make the part of the lid which inserts into the container you will need to do the same again but draw around the inside of the container. This part needs to be a snug fit (not too loose and not so big that it will split the container) |
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| Glue the two parts of the lid together |
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| Stick the base on now and leave the whole thing to dry. Now oil the bark and wood. I just used veg oil. It brings out the colour wonderfully! And there you have it! |
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