Tight bark

[Loope]

I cut a 7 inch hickory in my yard today that I have been eyeing for a while.  I have never done anything with inner bark, and I was hoping the bark would slip off easily so I could give it a try.  No luck.  The bark was stuck like crazy.  I couldn't get even small pieces to peel off.  Tried taking it whole (inner and outer bark together), tried cutting narrow strips and peeling, and also tried shaving the outer bark with a drawknife first to get to the inner.  Nothing worked.  So I just made bark shavings.  Oh well, no bark strips this time.

Is it too late in the year for bark to slip?  It has been hot and dry here for a while (East TN), maybe that affected it?

[Zuma]

I'm no expert, but I think spring is the time when the sap
runs the best and the bark should slip the easiest.??
Zuma

[Pat B]

The bark should slip any time during the growing season. It might need a little encouragement but it should slip.

[blackhawk]

In bowmaking many said "rules" may not apply ...ive seen it many a time where bark wouldnt slip off during the summer....even saw it this past weekend where some wouldnt peel off by hand and others from trees not to far away from each other wood peel off easily(all were the same species of tree...elm).. I think it might have something to do with how much water and nutrients is available to the tree...the ones that didnt slip had much smaller rings. Which indicates its not a well fed tree. Just an educated guess tho?

[Eric Krewson]

The last hickory I cut was in July a couple of years ago, the bark was on tight as a drum and had to me removed laboriously with a draw knife. It took me two weeks to strip 17 staves.

[Aaron H]

I cut a shagbark hickory in the middle of September last year, it was still pent hot at the time, but I couldn't get the bark to slip either.   I had to do the same as Eric and strip it with a drawknife, took forever.

[Pat B]

That's why I like cutting whitewoods in the spring just after the leaves come out. I've never had a problem with the bark slipping then.

[PrimitiveTim]

hit it with a rubber hammer all around the ends and see if that will loosen it up... then peel it with you teeth 

[Loope]

I tried everything I could think... peeling by hand, cutting narrow strips first, beating on it with the head of the ax, prying it with the ax blade, and prying it with the drawknife wedged between bark and wood, etc.  Nothing, it was stuck.

Did some reading about tree grafting and it explained that strength of the bond between bark and wood was related directly to cell growth rate.  So fast growth rate means weak bond.  Spring and early summer is high growth rate, so easy bark slipping.  It also mentioned that the cellular growth rate is related to moisture... so dry weather when the plants become more dormant means tight bark... as Blackhawk mentioned.

So I guess slower growth late summer combined with hot & dry weather, combined with the tree location, etc. increased my work load and kept me from harvesting inner bark.

I did cut this tree more to try to get some inner bark to play with, and getting staves was just a secondary purpose.  At least I got some staves!
 Thanks for all the input.

[Danzn Bar]

Makes sense................
DBar

[okie64]

My experience has been that bark peels easily from the time the leaves pop out until the middle of June around here(Im in Oklahoma). The rest of the time its a guessing game and I do agree with blackhawk that it depends mostly on growing conditions. Ive never cut a tree in August or September and had the bark peel easily.

[Pat B]

I cut a small black walnut tree today at a landscape job and the bark fell right off.  I guess nothing is chiseled in stone.