Traditionally 'live edge' projects leave the bark on to add texture and interest to the table/bowl/ charcuterie board etc. Recently I have made a couple of things following this thinking. My most recent projects made use of Ash wood. In our area, (ontario) the emerald ash borer beetle has attacked and killed millions of board feet of mature ash trees. There are worm holes in some of my latest projects, however, when the bark is stripped off completely the result is interesting and a bit different.
This is a 12 inch round of ash. I removed most of the bark, actually most of it dried and fell off, I just helped it along. The edge is a different colour and texture and this will be turned into a three legged stool/side table. It will sit beside a chair and hold a snack and drink or can be used for a causal seat when there is a crowd.
The next barkless project turned out to be amazing. I had an oval shaped cut off and began carving the inside out to make a bowl. ( see previous blog) Carving end grain ash is definately a power tool task. I used my arbortech turbo plane to rough the bowl. Next was time using grinding bits in a drill and smaller bits in a dremel too. I then used just about every kind and size of sander I own. The finish was mostly one inch sanding disks and hand work. The inside is good, but the star of this project is when I pried all the bark off.
The bowl is a 14 inch oval and the entire outside is this mass of worm channels. I gave the bowl two coats of Minwax water based sealer and two coats of water based polycrylic. I am happy with rhe result, application is real easy and clean up is effortless. I know I get a good finish more regularly than I did with oil based varnish and never have issues with runs.
The bowl is finished inside so will be for dry things, chips etc. only.
cheers ianw
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