I have a piece of red oak (flitch) approx. 1 1/4 inches thick and intended for making a desk top. I would like to preserve the bark on the edge (some 8″ or so has already separated from one end) but I don’t have much experience in rustic woodworking. Should I simply glue it? Will the rest of it remain attached or is there something I can do to insure that it remains so?
The same piece of wood has some cracking around some wild grain. I don’t simply want to use the usual wood filler and since it is red oak, I think that I need something to fill the grain to create a surface appropriate for a desk. Suggestions?
Thanks
Replies
For a desktop I'd use pore filler not wood filler.Behlen's pore-o-pac is one brand available from catalogs.
With the bark,you could glue it back on.After that, seal the entire piece with either poly, shellac, lacquer or epoxy.
Russell
Logs that have been harvested in the winter hold their bark very well. Unfortunately, logs harvested during the warmer months don't do so well. My experience is not only does the bark fall off, but it crumbles, also. You can try glue or epoxy (better) to hold it on. Definately seal it well, as suggested in the previous post.
JC
you can get some small (1" or so) box nails, put them in a tin can, run them thru a fire (woodstove works well) to oxidize them, and then nail the bark to the flitch - use a tack hammer and be careful - they will disappear against the bark...
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