I made about 1000 birch bark rings for handles from live trees. My question is how long do you have to let them dry before gluing them up? I also made about 1000 rings from down and dead trees and they are not as easy to work with as the green rings. (Tree huggers don't despair, the land is being cleared)

In the original article which Antti Kymalainen wrote for the Volume 9 #2 issue of RodMaker, he suggested cutting and boring the rings from it as soon as possible and then immediately gluing up the grip. He stated that if you don't to do that right away, at least store the sheets in a dry place, laid flat, with weight on top of them so they don't curl as they dry.

So it appears that he didn't see the need to allow the bark to cure before building handle. As one of the first to use this material in custom rod handles and somebody who was/is obviously doing fine work with it, perhaps it's not necessary to wait long, if at all, before using the rings.

While I would tend to dry obviously wet cork for a couple weeks before using it, the above is from the article. I'm sure others that are working with birch bark will weigh in with their opinions.

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I've used rings, in as short as a week after harvesting. I store unused rings on a 1/4" all thread rod, with 1 1/4" fender washers and wingnuts on each end, compressing them.

Chris

If you look at folks that cut firewood, they generally wait about a year after cutting before burning.
I find that a years drying of the rings - with weight stored on the bark to keep it flat does an excellent job of making great non shrinking handles.


But if you glue it up green, the rings will almost certainly shrink.

Be safe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2014 09:17AM by roger wilson.

Thanks for the help guys. I have an equal amount of rings made from live trees and down and dead trees so I think I'll make one out of green and one out of the dry and see what happens. After the green rings are turned into a grip and have some time to cure I'll report back. Thanks again