Removing bark from fir for cordwood

Alright yall, after building an outdoor kitchen this summer. I’m starting my journey to a cordwood greenhouse (lower half walls will be cordwood construction, upper half will be salvaged windows. Gunna put a rocket mass heater and a bath tub in there too, bc wtf not?

I had some Doug for cut on my property, cleared out a nice huge corner of my shed to dry, got some borax and started working on peeling bark and guess what? The bark doesn’t want to come off.

Flummoxed on step 1! lol

Help!

Hi - how frustrating!   No experience on this scale, but when I asked the question elsewhere on how to remove bark the answer was a drawknife and a stand to put the log on.   I just wanted to remove bark from apricot branches to  use for natural dye, so went with a box cutter and a box of band-aids.  Here's hoping you have success.
*draw knife has an upright handle at each end of the blade

Douglas fir has a very thick bark.
When green removing the bark is tough.
Cut it to length and let it sit all winter.
Next spring the bark should pop off.
If not, score it from top to bottom with your chainsaw and then try it.

Jill, that sounds so neat! What is your favorite source of natural dye?

thomas rubino wrote:Douglas fir has a very thick bark.
When green removing the bark is tough.
Cut it to length and let it sit all winter.
Next spring the bark should pop off.
If not, score it from top to bottom with your chainsaw and then try it.

I was worried the sap would glue it on. This is comforting to hear!

Hi Sarah;
Once the tree is cut, the sap dries and shrinks allowing the bark to pop off.
A hatchet or an axe could be used if a chainsaw is inconvenient.
Once the bark is cut from top to bottom it will peel open like a book.
Too many branches can make it a bit harder, cutting them very close to the tree helps.
This bark is very burnable although it does leave quite a bit of ash.

Howdy,
I live in the wet part of PNW, Oregon, about 40 miles in from the Pacific coast.
I am able to usually draw knife/peel most soft woods when green. If the peeling is hard, I will score the length with a chainsaw, just into the sapwood, about a 1/4 inch. I have also just hacked a line with an axe or hatchet, coming back later and peeling when the bark shows signs if peeling off by itself.

In my neck of the woods, if I leave the bark on till the tree is dry, it is way harder to peel.

I seem to remember that trees are easier to peel, if cut when the sap is running, like cut in spring and peeled within days of cutting.