# Easiest way to remove bark?



## oldmacnut

I have some big slabs of bark-on Walnut I have racked up right now. Some of it is dry, some isnt, however I have noticed the bark is still hard to get off, keep in mind I dont want to "damage" the surface below the bark.

Does anyone have any tips, tricks, etc?.

And when I mean Bark on, I mean 18" wide slabs where one side is all bark, otherside is well, walnut, lol.


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## aardvark

Draw knife.


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## cabinetman

aardvark said:


> Draw knife.


+1. :yes:









 







.


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## Dominick

I wouldn't use a drawknife if it's a slab. To hard to do. And you will gouge it up.Use some hand chisels and gently pry it up if you can. When we're these slabs cut? Big factor. Winter they hold tight, spring will peel off.


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## Dominick

GriffithSykesse said:


> You straddle the log with a strong knife at the end away from you,, get under the bark and pull the knife toward you, the bark should start peeling away in strips


It's not in a log form. It's cut into a slab. So don't think it'll work.


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## bentwood

A pressure washer capiable of 3k or better psi with a *rotating turbo nozzle* will peel it off. A conventional turbo will do it taking about ten times as long so it depends on how much you plan on doing as well as how patient you are. I use a Cat Pump m#7632.35 bought at Northern Tool who's stock # is 22775 @ $99 and worth every penny when it's called for.

Now if some pityful bozo comes diddy-bopping by and says you are waterlogging the slabs,ignore him and here is how you can prove it doesn't.
Carefuly weigh a piece of dry debarked unsplit firewood that you have sealed the end grain on like you do in prepreration for air drying. Wash it,hose it or submerge it in a bucket of water then lay it aside to dry 3 days in our wonderful 3 digit temperature that Texans appreciate because it keeps a few undesirable fools from crossing Oklahoma. Weigh it again. 
What fools fail to realize is how water travels in a tree nor know cambium and phloem from warts on thier nose.
You will reconize the beffons because they look like this picture and right after he offers advice he will go,BAAAaaaaa exactly like a bewildered sheep.


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## aardvark

Yeah, That'll kick up the moisture content.


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## Dominick

aardvark said:


> Yeah, That'll kick up the moisture content.


Yea that'll speed up the drying. Lol


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## aardvark

When you psi wash at 1200psi or whatever, you can guarantee the force will inject water into a few growth rings, and in already slabbed out wood, it is easier to get penetrated in. No, it won't get to the core, but it will get in. When painting/staining houses under psi, the point is to inject stain into the depths of the grains, and paint/stain is a denser than water.


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## Dominick

Don't get me wrong, I've used a pressure washer to peel logs, but that was done when the logs were cut in the early spring. It's a lot easier to do at that time. Ive peeled them by hand also.


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## fromtheforty

Power washing will work. I mainly work with cedar so I prefer not to power wash because it can tear up the wood. Many times I have wet down stubborn bark and then it peels right off. It only takes a couple of days (if that) for the water to dry out of the wood. Free water (like rain) dries out of the wood fast. Its the stuff in the cells that is the reason drying takes so long with green wood.

Geoff


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