New Bark House

[T J]

Looks really nice! I’m going to use your finish on my next bark carving. The first one I did, I used Circa 1850 oil and it came out too dark. The second one I used only Minwax Satin Poly spray and it is a little too light for my taste. I’ll get the Meltonian next Amazon order. Thanks again for the inspiration and tips.

[tbox61]

Looks really nice! I’m going to use your finish on my next bark carving. The first one I did, I used Circa 1850 oil and it came out too dark. The second one I used only Minwax Satin Poly spray and it is a little too light for my taste. I’ll get the Meltonian next Amazon order. Thanks again for the inspiration and tips.

Most welcome! your carving...would love to see the results!

[tbox61]

Give you guys an update...This carving got first place at our local County Fair this past weekend!

[Merle Rice]

Hi, tbox, Congratulations Job Well Done. You Deserved it. Merle

[yolli]

Congratulations

[Randy]

A ribbon well earned. Nice work on the detail and finish.

[Glenn Jennings]

Well done Tbox . I love what you guys do with the bark houses, They look great.

[Konaflyer7]

Congratulations! I love bark houses. This is my first attempt. I can see I have lots of opportunity for improvement!

[tbox61]

Congratulations! I love bark houses. This is my first attempt. I can see I have lots of opportunity for improvement!

That is too cool! Good job! The thing I love about bark is that you can really get crazy with it and do some fun things!

[Randy]

All the years I have been carving I have not used bark. I just ordered some and look forward to the new experience. Not sure if I will go for a house or a face. Have to see the actual piece of bark.

[Konaflyer7]

Thank you TBox! I can't wait to start the next one. You are an inspiration!

[tbox61]

All the years I have been carving I have not used bark. I just ordered some and look forward to the new experience. Not sure if I will go for a house or a face. Have to see the actual piece of bark.

Randy,
I appreciate all of the kind words from everyone, and you are correct...you have to go with what the wood 'gives' you. I may look at a chunk of bark for an hour or so before I can 'see' what I think may be a chimney, stairway, or where a window should go.

If you go back and look at this piece, what turned out to be the chimney was pretty obvious when I picked it up. I kind of designed the house around that idiosyncrasy.

I use white fabric pencils to kind of draw in rough margins before I carve...it comes off the bark easier than Sharpie!

Hope you all enjoy your new adventure in bark!

[Konaflyer7]

White fabric pencils? I never would have known. Please keep the tips and tricks coming! Seems that this is my favorite thing I have carved to date. Starting on my second one now. Not sure if it is a Whimsical house or a lighthouse? The bark will tell.

[tbox61]

White fabric pencils? I never would have known. Please keep the tips and tricks coming! Seems that this is my favorite thing I have carved to date. Starting on my second one now. Not sure if it is a Whimsical house or a lighthouse? The bark will tell.

Gorilla wood glue, and some good super glue is also a must. I have found DAP super glue is great, and much cheaper than other brands.

If you need to use an 'Accelerator', a 50/50 mix of water and 70% rubbing alcohol with a bit of baking soda in a spritz bottle helps set the super glue faster. Works the same as commercial mixes, at an 'almost free' cost. The baking soda hack came from a video on bark I watched with Jim Redhawk, and a tip from Ed, aka 'Nebraska' here on the forum.

If you decide on a lighthouse, I suggest Evan Designs located in Ft. Collins, Colorado, as a place to get EXTREMELY reasonably priced hobby LED lights as well as switches. Not sure of the web address, but just use Mr. Google, and he will get you to the right site. I am installing a 3 mm LED light in this carving to give a bit of a back glow through the door and window. Cost me around $5.00 to get the light, switch, and a AA battery box.

I have a separate set of tools I use for bark carving. My 'good' tools only see basswood. I have some repurposed thrift store paring knives, #11 X-Acto blades and handles, and some cheaper hand gouges I received as a gift that are my bark tools. Bark can be very gritty and dirty, and would chew up a good carving knife blade.

I also use a Harbor Freight cordless 'Dremel' type tool to drill holes to relieve the window 'panes', and to hog out some of the wood on the back side of the carving.

I also recommend Rick Jensen's book and DVD on bark carving...lots of good tips. My wife and I are antique store junkies, and I am continually taking pictures of old windows and architectural pieces to get ideas to incorporate into my designs.

Hope this helps!!!

[Konaflyer7]

TBox - it helps a lot! Thank you! Great fun!