Saturday 29 December 2007

Processing Lime bark for cordage

8 weeks ago I placed some Lime bark into a stream to begin the process of "retting" (Retting dissolves pectins which bind the fibers together, by the actions of bacteria. The bacterial decomposition that occurs during water retting produces a sweet smelling odor.)

Now that the retting process was completed it was time to remove the bark and process it for cordage.

The retting process allows tissue thin layers of the inner bark to be removed

in long lengths

The thin strips are hung to dry and can then be stored for use when necessary.





3 comments:

torjusgaaren said...

Cool!

I wish there was lime around here... Oh wait, there are some park trees...

Unknown said...

lime bark cordage had to be my favorite of all binding materials! Its fantastic stuff! I want to make some more but is it better to wait till the summer now because wont the bark be hard to separate from the wood?

Fenlander said...

I think you are right as I have found Lime bark easier to remove and process in summer than in winter.