preserving natural barked finish

[deropi]

we have recently felled some lovely candlebarks, blackwooods and messmates and wish to "seal" the natural barked state of the of the trees for future use in furniture making.
Can i seal the barked branches / bark in its current coloured state and stockpile for future use retaining the barked finish without splitting and pealing and colour fading.

Any answers on preserving the timber appreciated.

[bobsreturn2003]

you can seal the ends with end sealer , paste wax or parafin wax , but its not a certain result ,

[whitewood]

When I mill paulownia logs I cut them into flitches (bark to bark) and allow them to dry before cutting into actual planks of regulation size. More to do with the efficiency of my small mill that for any other reason. During the drying process most of the bark falls off. I believe this is because the timber drys at a faster rate than the bark and this movement between the two surfaces causes it.

[deropi]

thank you , i.ll try a combination. possibly also beeswax

[Saskatoon]

My uncle (now deceased) was a sawmiller and knew a bit about timber. He said that it was not possible to keep the bark on sawn logs because the cambium (growth layer) decomposed quickly, and thus the bark simply fell off. Perhaps the only way is to wait till all is dry and then glue the bark back on (replacing the cambium with glue)?

[joe greiner]

For woodturning natural-edge pieces, I've found it helpful to inject/apply some CA glue to the cambium as cutting proceeds. It's easier than trying to match pieces of bark that fall off. It darkens the cambium, and might be too awkward for milling operations. FWIW.

Cheers,
Joe