Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: RidgeRunner on August 03, 2009, 01:08:53 pm
-
I have just started making my first real back quiver.
The plan is to make a leather quiver and then cover it with tree bark so it looks super cool and somewhat primitive.
Hickory and Tulip Poplar are the only two trees that I know of that allow the bark to be removed in sheets and then made into things after it is dry.
My questions are: Are there any other trees in North Alabama that will give up their bark in usable sheets.
Do any of you folks know any techniques that will help in the harvest of tree bark.
Thanks
David
-
White birch if ya have it will work also perhaps some of the cherry species, I managed to get elm bark off in one piece also.
-
Slippery elm peels good, as will a lot of other trees at the right time of year. Get it quick, because the bark slipping time is fading fast for this year.
-
With Hillbilly's info that the the bark slipping season is quickly slipping away for this year I headed to the woods Friday afternoon after work.
Found a Tulip Poplar about 6" in diameter and about 25' tall. The top was broken out so I figured the tree would most likely never amount to much... So I chopped it down and removed three sections of bark. Each section is about 4' long. Those section are now drying with cardboard tubes inside them.
There is a fair amount of bark still on the remaining sections of the tree.
I know that a course fiber can be made out of Tulip Poplar bark. How is that done?
Thanks
David
-
take the remaining bark and weight it down in a stream. In roughly 3 weeks you should start to see the layers start to seperate. This can also be used as tinder for friction fires. The process can be done in a garbage pail but it will stink and you need to change the water often. When the layers seperate hang them to dry and they will last for quite some time till you need them.
-
Thanks for the reply Jamie:
Took some more bark off yesterday. Much harder to do two days after the tree was cut.
I now have 4- bark tubes drying with cardboard pipes inside of them. Three flat pieces about 18" square.
Hope to make bottoms for the quivers out of the flat pieces. 6- stripes 2" to 4" wide and about 4 foot long.
The intention it to make straps for the quivers out of some of these strips and cordage out of the rest.
There is no stream close by. Will use the bucket method and change the water every afternoon.
Thanks
David
-
David, I would try to do the weave of diffrent tree barks not a full cover. What did our ansister do back in the day? Use what you have and make the most of it! I am sure that it will look great. :)
Tina
-
Ansister? ??? ...as opposed to ansbrother? >:D
-
Pat I think dats a Yooper word she picked up from me ;) :D :P
-
Thanks for the reply Mrs. Hillbilly:
Are you keeping Mr. Hillbilly and Hillbilly Jr. in line over there? We cant have the likes of them running loose. ;D
When this all started my only plan was to make a leather quiver and cover part of the outside of it with bark so it looked cool.
We will call that plan # 1.
Well there was much more bark on the tree than I needed for plan # 1. I now have 4- bark tubes which were removed from the trunk of the tree. One will be used for plan # 1.
The other three will most likely be made in to " all bark" quivers. We will call this plan # 2.
I knew that cordage could be made from poplar bark but had no idea how to do that. Figuring this out is now plan # 3.
I have cut several Dogbain stalks and may use them as well. I know how to make Dogbain sting. Plan # 4 I guess.
Ansister you know how hard it can be to make a plan work out. ;D
David
-
David, you have tooooooooo many plans for me to keep up with. I just work as I go, and hope for the best. Oh my word, am I a Hillbilly Yooper? ??? Hey Dana Yooper is not in the spell check. ;D
Good luck on the quiver and post some pics when you finish it.
Tina
-
David, I've made a few basket quivers from poplar bark-just cut it into about inch-wide strips and start weaving. Makes a pretty cool quiver. You can also make them the same way you would make a folded bark "berry bucket." Those are quick and easy, and look great.