need help finding wood.

[texaswoodworker]

Recently I've seen a few fretwork designs cut into a slab of wood with the bark still on the outer edge. I've tried to find a piece of wood like that but couldn't find any. Any suggestions?

Aaron

[JohnB]

why is it, I have this uncontrollable urge to say "Look in a Forest"

[miniwoodworker]

Hi Aaron,

Locally, these are available from Michaels and AC Moore craft stores. Some WalMart stores have them in the crafts department. Although I've recently heard that WalMart is phasing out fabrics and crafts in many of their stores.

I'm sure some folks will be along to let you know their favorite on-line sources for wood for scrolling.

[RAIN MAN]

Try The Handsome Woodman . Rain Man

[dankc908]

Do you have a tree in your yard?

[m_r_dxn]

Our wally world sells em for about $6.00 for one slice. Seem high to me, but that might just be because I can get my own for free.

[Haggard3230]

All of the above and it is basswood, pretty soft wood. I have a couple of places locally that I get scraps of maple, ash, cherry, walnut, still with the bark on.

[ABlade]

Aaron,
If you are near a major city you will be able to find hardwood stores that have them. I can help you with names if you are around Houston, maybe Austin and Fort Worth. Let me know.
Come to the Texas Scroll Saw Picnic next year and you can load up on them. I picked up five pieces myself this year from a mill in Stephenville.

[Scrolling Days]

Isn't it the natural tendency for bark to eventually loosen and detach from the inner wood with age? I say this because of all of the natural branches, etc, one finds when walking through the woods. The older ones are often denuded of their bark.

How is this prevented? I imagine a sealant would just protect the bark's surface but not the detachment. Or does this detachment only occur when left outdoors to insect activity, etc?

[jim_mex]

Hi Aaron - you have some good suggestions in the replies so I'll pass to Shawn's comment. Hope you find what you are looking for.

Hi Shawn - the problem you find with most timber lying around in the woods is that apart from insect attack it really gets a harsh treatment from the elements, What with uneven moisture top, bottom in and out , excessive external drying due to wind and sun, usually only on the top side, its pretty difficult for the bark to stay attached to the wood.

Decent lumber yards who specialize in offering woods 'au natural' with bark attached for projects such as rustic garden furniture, name signs and the like will usually make some effort in correctly storing the fresh cut timber away from the extremities of the elements until it is fairly dry and stable. Once its a this stage and the artisan does his work the trick is then to finish it in such a way as to keep it stable. As a example, if you carved a sign for your house, and don't finish it well and place it outside you'll be lucky if it gets through one winter in one piece. If on the other hand you finish it really well there's a good chance with a bit of maintenance it will outlive you

@John - hey if i hadn't have had a similar first thought I might have ignored such trite flippancy - LOL!

Now here's a bit of trivia. In southern Mexico, Veracruz state there's a place called Catemaco which has a shaman 'witch doctors' community set alongside an extinct volcano lake, where for a few pesos tourists can be bathed in mud, smoked with incense and thrashed with leafy boughs to have their evil spirits and ailments banished . A few years back I visited this place out of curiosity but being a stoic sort I stayed at the back of the group sipping a Sol beer and leaning against a tree. After a while it occurred to me that the bark on this tree felt sort of squidgy so being inquisitive and not the least bit ecological I scraped a bit of it with the cap from the beer bottle. Guess what, an artificial rubber, polystyrene and chicken mesh tree!!!!

Turns out the area was used as a film set for the first Predator movie. Unable to blow up the jungle due to ecological restraints the film crew built their own trees so they could then blow them up and clever Mexicans were quick to take advantage and negotiated a deal to keep the remnants to add to their authentic village surrounds!

So mate, getting back to your uncontrollable urge - just goes to show you can't always find the wood in the trees - RAOTFLMAO!!!!