American Hornbeam bark?

[Sasquatch]

So I had two days this summer in Alabama and harvested some AHHB, but when I went to pull bark off a lot of it stuck to the wood.  I didn't have time to remove any, simply had time to harvest.   Any ideas about getting that stuff off without getting rid of the cool groves that naturally grow in wood? I've tried a wire wheel and steam,  not much luck.

[Pat B]

The only way to remove bark cleanly is to harvest the wood during the growing season. This time of year trees are getting ready for their dormant period and the bark is tightly secured to the rest of the wood.

[Sasquatch]

Yep, that's what I thought, sorry I didn't mention this but I cut this in June.  Thanks for the quick response. I really appreciate your wisdom on this website.

[straightarrow]

I've only made one american hornbeam. It was in the spring and I took the bark off the day it was cut. Even green was a pain.  I sealed it right after it was down. You can try steaming it a hot shower? Hope something works out for ya... Looks like nice wood

Jon

[George Tsoukalas]

What i do is remove the bark with a draw knife and scraper.  Get close with the dknife and then use the scraper. Be really careful. Don't violate a ring. Don't remove the "muscles".
Jawge

[Badly Bent]

I had the same experience as straightarrow with amer. hornbeam, cut some in the summer and spent the better half of that very afternoon with a knife and goose neck scraper getting that bark off. Not an easy task even when green.

[chamookman]

If You have access to a sand blaster, that might work. Had a student years ago that had a Body Shop and He used His blaster a lot - debarking Whitewoods and thin rings on Osage . Bob

[PatM]

I have never seen a cambium that defied the tip of a teaspoon. I have had luck wetting cambium to make it "green" again or letting it sit for a couple of years until it gets powdery. Either way it will come off.
 Scraping is  never a good idea. No scraper is shaped like the grooves in the back of woods like that. There is also no way you can control the scraping so that it doesn't also scrape the outer ring.

[tattoo dave]

I have a piece of that that Rich (half eye) gave me a couple years ago. Dried with the bark on...Long story short, I finally gave up and made a bow with the bark still on it. Goos luck with that, if you figure out how to get it off please let us know.

Tattoo Dave

[Blaflair2]

Would it come off with steam or pop off durning tillering?

[tattoo dave]

The bow I have is tillered out to 20", it's only 42" tip to tip. The bark was cracking like crazy during tillering, a little scary. I was never sure if it was the bark or the wood, but it survived. Like I said the the bark is still on. I tried steam, tried submerging it for a couple days to wet it, tried picking it off with a knife. In the end the bark kicked my a :os.

Tattoo Dave

[Sasquatch]

Thanks guys, just making sure that it wasn't just me .  I think that I'm going to submerge for a day or so and then use a pressure washer to try and get under that stuff.  I've seen a pw used on cedar and it looks great. 

[Sasquatch]

Sorry about the side ways pic.  I use a Ipad most of time and it looks normal on that.  IDK why it switches the pic. Oh well

[Blaflair2]

Yeah Dave, it ain't called iron wood for nothing. Stuff is tough. Apparently the bark is too!

[Jim Davis]

Of course  you can scrape off  the cambium. Dry is best  and  you have to be patient, but here's some I did.