Removing Bark Inclusion on Live Edge
woodworker417
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hi — I am coming to completion of a piece with live edges — my first…. i have been ignoring the fact that I am not yet happy with the live edges… I succesfully removed the thick bark without damaging the sapwood, gave a light sanding, but still have many small bark inclusions. Seems next to impossible to get rid of these without sanding down and ruining the beautiful natural micro-contouring of the edge. I tried a wire brush wheel mounted in a drill, but in addition to leaving unwanted marks, it also removed the sap wood as agressively as the bark inclusions… i don’t mind a few inclusions, but there are many…. any suggestions? many thanks, tony.
Replies
Live-edge Paleontology
Depending on the complexity of the live-edge surface, you might try using techniques commonly associated with paleontology and cleaning up fossils in rock - dental picks, small wire brushes in a Dremel, larger wire brushes of various sizes in an electric drill, etc., along with riffler files to smooth out some of the brush marks. It can be tedious work, however, so be sure you have a full tank of patience.
Sand blasting is another option, potentially using nut-shell material as the abrasive. I'm not sure if such machines are available for rental, though.
Thanks.... most of the threads/articles that i've read on the topic counsel the use of drawknives, chisels, cats paws, etc.... clearly none of these will work in my situation where the remaining bark is essentially an extention of the sap wood... i just wanted to make sure that i wasn't missing anything.... i will be patient!
removing bark
I use sanding stars/ flap wheel in an air drill. I leave a percentage of bark patches and occasionaly sand thru the sapwood in places
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled