A friend of mine has an exterior stairway handrail made of 1 1/4″ pipe. Sturdy, but not overly attractive. She saw the pile of birch bark I’ve got from splitting birch firewood and asked if we could use some of it to wrap the pipe, making it look like it was made of birch branches. I’m wondering if anyone has done this, and if so has advice to offer on how they did it, how it’s held up. I’m thinking contact cement would probably be the best choice for applying the banding.
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I don't think birch bark would hold up very long in a use like that. It seems it would dry out, crack, and fall to pieces, especially if people were running their hands over it and leaning on the rail all the time. A one-and-a-quarter-inch diameter is going to require a pretty tight curl and may lead to splitting of the bark. At least in a birch bark canoe, the bark would stay moist in the water. And the surface of the bark that was facing out on the tree faces in on the canoe. I could be wrong, though. Try making a short sample rail, have somebody grab it several times a day for a while, and see how it holds up.
FWIW, I don't think the birch bark would last, either, even if you could initially convince it to take the tight curve.
It might be better to encase the pipe in wood with a dado on the bottom side and bolts through the pipe. For a more rustic look, a long, straight branch could be used, with the dado for the pipe being routed with a long jig.
If you want to try it, I would suggest that you start by washing the pipe down with a solvent to remove any oils and dirt. Followed by roughing with coarse sand-paper.
I would use thickened epoxy for the adhesive. starting at the bottom, using the stretch wrap to wind around it as your add the veneer on your way up. Epoxy doesn't need a lot of pressure to stick. It only needs to make contact with both sides being glued.
If it bleeds through, that will look wet, which may go away when you wet it with some kind of finish to protect it.
Epoxy will break down in sunlight if it is used as a finish, so you will need to choose something else if it is in the Sun.
I think I would try a sample before tackling the real project.
I agree with Keith Newton. Using something like epoxy or Kwik-Poly will not only adhere the bark but permeate it with high strength plastic. That should stabilize and strengthen the bark so that it will take LOTS of wear. Do make samples first and test them... then you'll KNOW.
I have a 30 year old fully functioning birch bark canoe, and have worked with other bark items for years. I am also friends with the canoe maker -- who is acclaimed. A few points about birch bark:
1) wet = tough, dry = brittle. If it gets banged when dry, it will crack
2) It can stand a lot of wet -dry cycles
3) the attractive white part on the outside peels off easily in sheets as thin as the most well-tuned hand plane can accomplish, leaving a sort of pinkish brown underbark. There is no way to stop this without making the bark look like plastic. Actually, bark canoes put the white part inside and use the stronger tan part facing out.
4) there is no practical way to clean the white part, which could be a big problem with anything that will be touched repeatedly.
Bark can make good canoes,boxes, and many other utilitarian objects, and it has been used for such for centuries -- but usually with the white part in. If you want to see the pretty white part (and I have a fair amount of that, too) use it where it will not be disturbed too much.
Joe
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