Birch bark processing and preparation of its crafts. Crafts from birch bark: step-by-step instructions, secrets of ancestors and practical use of birch bark products. Photos of birch bark crafts

To work with birch bark you will need both special and ordinary tools : scissors, knife, clamps, ruler, strip, square, compass, pencil, ballpoint pen, tin templates, knife tape cutter, washer tape cutter, awl, punches, hammers, staple, chisel, mallet.

Special tools for working with birch bark :

• A tape cutter for tape can be made of two knives, perpendicularly mounted on a plane for pulling the tape. The width of the tape is determined by the distance between the knives. Can also be made from 2 wooden plates (150x60 mm). The thickness of the permanent plate is 15 mm, the thickness of the other plate, removable, varies depending on the required width of the tape. A groove is made on the permanent plate and the knife blade is secured. The tip of the blade should be 3 mm below the plate.
• You can use paper clips, alligator clips, and clothespins as clamps. You will need stamps if you are going to make prints of drawings on birch bark. The simplest embossing can be made from a large nail (20 mm): the sharp end is ground down to a circle with a file, and then, using a triangular file and a file, a diametrical middle strip is marked on this end and then the end of the nail is ground down at an angle of 30 degrees from center to middle. You need to do this 6 times, maybe more. Get a drawing of the sun, maybe a flower.
• When weaving, a cat (kodochik, kochedyk, etc.) made of bone, wood or metal is used, with the help of which the gaps between the woven ribbons are widened, making it easier to pull the outer layer ribbon through.
• When making tues, you will need a punch (for punching locks), a mallet (for hammering the bottom into the cleavage, hammers (to emphasize beauty), etc. Unlike weaving from wicker and straw, in weaving from birch bark we mainly use one type of weave, straight or an oblique pattern results in a checkered pattern (similar to a chessboard), in a straight weave the rows of horizontal and vertical squares are perpendicular to each other, in an inclined weave they are located at an angle of 45". Straight weaving is considered simpler than an inclined one. Types of weaving products from birch bark :
  Straight weaving is used to make coasters, rugs, boxes, basket bottoms, and bread bins. An even number of strips 10-15 mm wide are taken, collected, folded, stretched and intertwined on a horizontal surface. The beginning of weaving may vary depending on the product being manufactured. When weaving a ribbon, the warps alternate one after another. With this alternation of birch bark strips, a pattern similar to a chessboard is obtained.
  This is how the rug is woven. To make three-dimensional products (box, salt shaker, basket), you need to learn how to weave knots. The easiest to implement is a right angle of 90°. All ends of the strips from the previously made rug rise vertically upward and are connected into a bundle. Additional stripes are woven into these vertical stripes. The volumetric template located inside the weave helps to create an even, symmetrical, beautiful product.
  For a small box woven with straight weave, you will need birch bark strips 20 mm wide, 1 mm thick: 8 strips up to 45 mm long and 8 strips up to 55 cm long. The strips are stripped to 0.4 mm and sharpened. First, a rug is woven (two ribbons from the middle are intertwined with two others), 4 short side ribbons are woven to them on the sides, you get a base with a side of 8 cm. Then a volumetric template is placed on the mat so that the ribbons are located along the diagonals of its end. Two short side strips coming out from under each corner of the template are intertwined, fixing the corners. Next, walls up to 9 cm high are woven. The template is removed, and then the hangers are woven, for which one end of the short side tape is slipped under the other, which in turn is thrown over the first to the other side, lowered onto the adjacent wall and secured by pulling it through the transverse tape . Other hangers do the same.
  To give the product a finished look, the edge of the product must be shaped. This can be done using an additional, short (to the length of the edge) tape. It passes through all the loops of the bent strips (ribbons) and does not allow the outer “squares” of the product to diverge. The edges of straight or oblique weaving can be decorated with “teeth”, a cuff, and birch bark ribbons, which are tied with bows, also serve as an addition.

  Making Tues :
  Making a tues is more difficult. For it you will need a chip, plastic birch bark (slightly smaller in height), strips of birch bark for the belts, lining strips for the folds, wood planks for making the bottom and lid, as well as a woven rod for the handle.
  A thermos is a thermos. The inner part is used as a cleaver, from which 3-6 cm of excess layers are removed from the top and bottom. The plaster birch bark (outside inward) is wrapped around the cleft so that its edges overlap each other by 4-7 cm. A line is drawn along the edges with an awl and semicircular holes are cut on one edge, and denticles on the other. It turns out to be a lock fastening.
  Then, having put the casing on the clapper, the protruding end of the clapper is lowered into boiling water, steamed for several minutes, when it becomes soft, turn it outward, and it tightly clasps the casing. The same is done with the upper end of the cleaver. The bottom and lid can be made from 15-20 mm thick boards made of softwood. The lid must correspond to the inner diameter of the container, and the bottom is made with an allowance of 2-4 mm. The bottom is inserted into the once again steamed lower edge of the tub, and a belt is put on it to increase strength (a birch bark strip 2-5 cm wide, fastened into a lock). A common rod is used for the handle; it is bent and inserted into the holes made in the lid. Holes are made in the ends of the rod facing the inside of the lid, and a short stick is inserted into them to secure the handle.

  Using various methods of decorating birch bark, such as carving, scratching, painting, you can create beautiful original products, which are always in high demand. Such products are especially readily purchased by foreign tourists, and they highly value handmade items.

How to work with birch bark?

I don’t remember how it all started. I wanted to try my hand at working with birch bark. I looked at the products on the Internet and on the market and decided on the goal: Embossing on birch bark. Where to start? I asked myself this question two years ago. I've scoured the internet on this issue. Many sites talk about the types of processing of birch bark: blanking, slotting birch bark, scraping the inner dark layer, weaving and embossing. Unfortunately, on the last question that interested me, I did not find anything intelligible, with the exception of the manufacture and use of various primitive coins in the form of stars and crosses.

I decided not to despair and solve problems as they came. After all, the work requires material, where can you get it? A lot has been written about this on the Internet. Written - done: I took a cutter, a backpack and went away from the city to a birch grove. Fortunately, it happened that the time was just right, the end of spring, the beginning of summer. I don’t envy those who got into it out of season. There is a desire, but no material. Is it possible to harvest birch bark out of season? We will leave this topic for future research.

It didn't work the first time. There were young birch trees, although the trunk was 15 cm in diameter (as stated in the sources), so friends trees, to remove the skin from them, you need to look for more than 15 cm. The thickness of the birch bark depends on the age of the tree. Good layers were removed from trees ranging from 30 to 40 cm in diameter. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out how to preserve the front side (facing the bast) without mechanical damage. All the samples I took were scratched and, it seems to me, have lost their artistic value.

Upon arriving home, I processed the samples, removed dirt from the outside, cut out diseased and damaged areas, and put them under a press.

The second point of preparation was the tape, which was supposed to be used to mark the edges of future products. To mark the tape on the barrel, I decided to use electrical tape. It turned out to be a very successful maneuver. Firstly, it turned out to be the same width along the entire length, and secondly, if you need to bypass “unsuitable” areas, this can be easily coordinated by moving the tape higher and lower. I cut it with an ordinary stationery knife. In this way, 3.5 meters of tape was removed, which at home I later divided into two, 5 mm each.

I think that it is necessary to warn novice “scalpel hunters” that it is advisable to be in time before the midges (mosquitoes and midges) fly out, or to use mosquito nets and protective equipment, because the work requires accuracy and attention, which, of course, you will not be able to find in yourself if everything around you is squeaking, buzzes and strives to drink your proletarian blood.

One more point about removing birch bark only from fallen trees. Of course, it’s bad to cut down trees, but for a week I tried to find where there were cuttings of birch trees, and I didn’t find anything except a couple of burnt plantings, in which there was nothing to catch except charred stumps. Note: the next year I went to see what happened to my patients - everyone is alive and well, of course, now their whitish frame is decorated with black stripes.

I chose the topic - Fishing. I picked up a beautiful photograph in which I liked the silhouette of a man catching a fish.

For good work you need a good frame - a frame. I made several sketches on the theme and thought through the approximate layout.

I tried to run a separate node. I used a small piece of birch bark. I drew the pattern with a soft pencil. I started outlining with a blunt awl, as described in the instructions on the website. I did not like. I tried a used ballpoint pen, an old one with a large ball. I settled on this device. I also used a knitting needle! for pushing deeper grooves and areas.

I was a little upset: the quality of the grooves left much to be desired. The material in them became wrinkled, cracked and fluff appeared. Especially in those places where there were lentils (strips) or defects on the birch bark. As they say, the first one is lumpy! Further developments showed that not only the first one. Alas.

After tracing the drawing, I covered the birch bark with stain, waited a little until it was absorbed, and rubbed it vigorously with a cotton swab dipped in sunflower oil. The result amazed me - this is what I wanted to get.

performed the simulation on the computer:

I liked the result. I printed it out and started choosing the material.

Despite the fact that the sheets were under pressure, when it was removed the sheets still twisted. When trying to straighten them, the birch bark began to make sounds of obvious destruction, crackling. This was the first problem. I put it in warm water for half an hour. This gave the sheets flexibility.

The second problem was choosing a suitable piece of birch bark, none of which had a clear A4 size space. I didn’t solve the problem, but simply caved in: I reduced the scale of the drawing template and tried to fit some of the defects into the composition as much as possible.

I pinned the sheet to the board with pins. Using a regular pen, I translated the drawing according to the template and started embossing.

Problem number three. As the scale decreased, some parts became so small that their execution using the chosen technique was not possible. Therefore, we had to move away from the original version. Birch bark turned out to be a very unpredictable material. Therefore, before the final project, it is advisable to work out a couple of main points on material obtained from the same piece. Pay special attention to small details and coatings, stains and varnishes, the last two can ruin good work at the very last moment.

I embossed everything with the same tools described above: Ballpoint pen with finished ink, knitting needle.

Preparing the tape. Before use, I soaked the tape for half an hour in warm water, because... it also dried out from long storage. After that, I trimmed one edge using a ruler. But not quite in a straight line, but taking into account the bends of the material, trying to maintain maximum usable space. As it turned out later, this was necessary for quickly marking the stripes themselves. To mark strips of the same size, I used a compass. Having measured the required size on a compass, using a needle and the cut edge of the tape as a guide, I drew a line along the entire strip. I didn't like using a knife to cut the tape. The tape spun and spun as it wanted, and I had no strength to curb it. Everything turned out great with scissors.

I tried everything to make holes. A hole puncher is inconvenient, or rather impossible, to get where you need to go. A round punch - the holes come out just right, but the gap after inserting the tape remains large. I found two ways out. Either knock out two holes with a diameter equal to the thickness of the tape (not width), and then connect the two holes with a cutter, or slightly flatten the round punch to an ellipse. I did the latter.

I covered the surface with stain and then wiped it with a cotton swab dipped in sunflower oil. This time I was not very pleased with the result. The natural color was definitely prettier. It was necessary to cover only the embossed surfaces with the solution. As I did in the case of the experimental sample.

Another important discovery: Birch bark oiled with sunflower oil behaves completely differently when using embossing tools (awl, etc.). The tools leave a deep mark, but do not disturb the surface layer at all. Of course, it is not clear how the embossing will be tinted in this case... the discovery requires testing in battle.

When threading the tape, it got all twisted and tangled. Therefore, after each threading, I began to look for the right side from the very beginning. I found two ways out, either use short ribbons (they are easier to handle) or thread the edge into the desired hole, do not throw it to the mercy of fate, but insert it into the next hole. This way, when the operation is complete, you have the unraveled end inserted the correct way.

When bending the tape over the edge, I discovered tears in cases where there was a lentil on the bend, and only then did I understand why craftsmen lay twigs from willows or roots along the edges of the work, then the bending radius becomes larger and the likelihood of breaking the tape decreases.

At the end of the braid, I made a big mistake, I pulled the tape a little harder than necessary and... tore out a whole piece of birch bark. Friends, firstly, do not punch holes too close to each other, and secondly, be careful and gentle with the birch bark, do not try to “shove in something that cannot be pushed in”; this will not end well.

And here is the result we got:

Good luck to you in your endeavors.

Russia is a country with a vast territory and centuries-old history. Among other states, there are a large number of stereotypes associated with it. Some have a negative connotation, for example, about vodka, frost and swearing, others, on the contrary, reveal the deep Russian mentality from the positive side: willingness to help, abundance of caviar and the beauty of nature.

It is truly difficult to imagine Russian landscapes without birches - delicate black and white beauties. These trees not only pleased the eyes of our ancestors, but also served as raw materials for birch bark fishing.

Birch sap is still very popular, because it has a pleasant taste, and in addition contains a dozen organic acids and vitamins B6 and B12, which certainly indicates its health benefits. The useful qualities of the tree do not end there; its bark - birch bark, or birch bark - was used in many areas of life.

They wrote on birch bark, made decorations for huts and dishes from it, used it in fishing for light boats, wove bast shoes and baskets, it also served as an excellent natural antiseptic.

Nowadays, when natural materials have begun to be replaced by synthetic ones, birch bark has lost its primacy, but the preserved knowledge allows us to create unique crafts from this material.

The advantages of such products are undeniable: firstly, they are natural. Secondly, beauty at the same time as functionality. And thirdly, but by no means the last advantage - these things are used for their intended purpose, for example, you can store food in birch bark containers, collect mushrooms and berries in baskets, and use bast shoes as house shoes.

Folk art is becoming increasingly popular and many are interested in how to make birch bark crafts with their own hands. The article below will help you get started on your creative path.

Harvesting birch bark for crafts

If you are fired up with ideas for crafts made from birch bark, you need to learn how to properly prepare it for creativity.

First of all, you should remember that the procurement of material should not harm nature. It is better to collect birch bark from fallen or cut down trees. Calculate the approximate amount of raw materials, because unused bark may deteriorate and go to waste.

The collection takes place in June. This period varies depending on where you live.

The easiest way to collect birch bark is in sheets. An incision is made on the bark along the trunk, 40 to 70 cm long. Then carefully separate the bark from the trunk; in a good season, peeling occurs easily on its own.

For some crafts that involve weaving, birch bark needs to be collected with ribbons. Then make a cut along the trunk 3-4 cm long, carefully peel off the bark and remove it in a spiral.

Storage and preparation of birch bark

• the storage space must be dry and well ventilated;
• in the light, birch bark loses color and burns out, so choose a dark place for it;
• thin ribbons are rolled into a skein with the white side out;
• There should be a layer between the sheets, for example, cardboard, and they should be pressed on top with something heavy.

Processing birch bark for crafts begins with cleaning. Shake off dust from the yellow side and remove dirt from the other; you can use sandpaper for this.

Next stage: delamination. Birch bark is divided into layers of the required thickness. If the material is old or the bark is thick, it needs to be soaked in a saline solution for 2-3 days. After this, it is dried under a load.

DIY birch bark box

We present to your attention a master class on creating a birch bark body for beginners. It is worth noting that although the product can be created by an inexperienced artisan, this will require several hours.

It is assumed that the material is available and ready for use.

Use the birch bark sheet of the size you need. Let's assume its size is 40x30 cm. Prepare thin ribbons for “sewing” the product. Their length should be enough to connect the edges of the box. Make the thickness approximately 0.5-0.7 cm.

Fold the sheet overlapping the edges and secure them, for example, with paper clips or large paper clips. Make holes on the edges that overlap each other.

Use a utility knife or awl. To make the box beautiful and neat, mark the locations of the holes in advance.

“Sew” the cylinder using the birch bark ribbons prepared earlier. The clamps can now be removed. On the tube, mark the bottom level at 10 cm. Cut the birch bark into 4 parts up to this mark at an equal distance from each other. Fold the bottom pieces over each other and “sew” them together using thin tape.

The body is ready. It can be decorated with pieces of birch bark of a different color and a handle can be attached if necessary. In the photo you see a birch bark craft in finished form.

There are many ideas and instructions for birch bark crafts on the Internet. Use them or come up with your own options. Your creativity will definitely not leave anyone indifferent!

Photos of birch bark crafts

Types of decorative processing of birch bark and types of birch bark products.

All products made from birch bark can be divided into types:

· Products made from birch bark cylinder. To make them, you need birch bark removed entirely from a section of birch bark trunk. In this way, boxes and boxes are made.

· Products made from a single layer of birch bark. For products of this type, pieces of birch bark are used, taken from the tree along the circumference of the trunk. Products are made by cutting out flat parts or shapes from birch bark cloth and mounting them in some way into a three-dimensional form. This is how boxes, scoops, rugs, and shirts for clothes are made.

· Products made from strips of birch bark. To manufacture products of this type, narrow strips of birch bark are used, cut directly from the trunk or from previously prepared layers, which are intertwined in a special way in mutually perpendicular directions. Baskets, salt shakers, bread bins, and many others are made this way.

· Products decorated with puff birch bark. To obtain individual layers, a layer of birch bark removed from a tree is divided into layers using a dull knife or by hand. The layers are subsequently subjected to various types of decorative processing methods or used to make appliqués.

Types of decorative birch bark:

One of the oldest ways to decorate birch bark products is embossing– drawing a pattern by pressing in ornamental elements. The design is applied using special devices (stamps or stamps) by hitting them with a hammer.

The most widespread were drawings with stylized images of birds, animals, ornaments with plant motifs, images of the simplest geometric shapes and signs (stripes, stars, circles, triangles).

Birch bark carving– production of openwork stripes by cutting through the pattern and removing the cut out elements. This technique is used to create both simple geometric and floral patterns and plot compositions.

Carving is done using cutters, scissors, stamps, and perforations. Openwork stripes obtained as a result of cutting out elements are used to decorate utilitarian objects, and are also designed as independent works of art.

When decorating utilitarian objects, multilayer compositions are often made from openwork strips of birch bark: they are sequentially glued on top of each other from the background grid pattern to the developed elements of the top layer of the ornament.

A special case of carving is scratching - cutting birch bark to a small thickness and removing the top layer of cut elements. The result is a pattern of elements that differ slightly in tone from the background.

Birch bark painting– applying a colorful design or graphic pattern to the surface of products using brushes, writing pens, and other visual means. They paint the lids of boxes, cabinets, and individual parts of household items.

The painting sketch should be both narrative and decorative, most often using stylized natural forms. The tonality of the painting is chosen based on the established traditions of the craft and the overall composition of the product. Taking into account the dependence on the palette used, the following types of painting are distinguished:

Polychrome (multicolor)

Monochrome (tonal), which should be done in both a pictorial and graphic manner.

The painting is secured with varnishing.

Weaving– a method of manufacturing products from narrow strips of birch bark by volume molding by plain weaving. For weaving from birch bark, narrow ribbons 1-3 cm wide are used. Small souvenir products are made from ribbon 5-7 mm wide. The use of the type of weaving is determined by the purpose of the product and the complexity of its shape, as well as the material used. The specificity of weaving is based on twisting the ribbons together, alternating one with the base ribbons - a checkered pattern is formed (straight or oblique)

Birch bark applique– gluing individual parts cut from puff birch bark of various color shades and textures onto the surface to be decorated in accordance with the sketch of the composition. This technique is simple and accessible. One of the main tasks is to find expressive combinations of color spots. Using the appliqué method, they decorate the surface of utilitarian objects, and also make independent souvenir-type plot compositions.

To perform the application, birch bark is sorted by color. Select pieces of different colors. For the application, a fairly stylized sketch is developed with clear boundaries for dividing the sections. On the working sketch, it is advisable to mark the direction of the lentils in each part. And also note the features of the texture. Color division can be marked by spots of the same color but of different saturation.

An exact copy of the working sketch is cut into separate parts, and they are numbered so as not to be confused when pasted onto the background. Using the prepared patterns on the wrong side of the selected birch bark, mark the contours of the parts with a pencil or pen and cut them out, cutting off the intended line. The cut out parts are glued onto thin paper and dried under a press. The prepared parts are glued onto the prepared background (cardboard, plywood, wood, textiles, etc.) in accordance with the sketch, starting from the background. In this case, the glue is applied to the parts, not the background, spreading from the middle to the edges. Small elements of the applique are lubricated with a match. The finished application is dried under pressure. Openwork appliqués made from natural birch bark or painted with black ink are very beautiful.

Often the surface of birch bark products is subjected to decorative finishing.

1. For most birch bark products they use transparent finish, because The birch bark itself usually has a beautiful and characteristic color. The transparent finish not only gives the birch bark a certain color, because... different places in the wood absorb the dye unevenly, but also highlight the natural texture variations. Methods:

Waxing – coating with wax or wax mastics (with the addition of rosin and turpentine)

Varnishing is carried out in several layers of varnish from the thickest to the thinnest, with sanding of each varnish layer.

Polishing using a special polish (glossy or semi-gloss)

You can coat the surface of birch bark products with vegetable oil (pure or with the addition of drying oil - 15-20%), giving a deep, fresh and concentrated color.

2. Opaque finish– hides the texture of birch bark. Used as an auxiliary decoration (with oil or nitrocellulose paints and enamels, gilding and silvering).

singeing used to give products a special color or contrast. The method is beautiful in combination with parts made of light birch bark, with copper or brass elements. Singeing is carried out by immersing birch bark in hot sand (varying the temperature and holding time)

Types of decorative processing of birch bark and types of birch bark products. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Types of decorative processing of birch bark and types of birch bark products." 2017, 2018.

Blank
Birch bark is harvested during the hot summer period: from mid-June to mid-July. At this time, the bark peels off well from the trunk, while in winter it completely sticks to the cork layer. However, you can do the harvesting at a later time. Until October, in swampy areas, birch allows you to remove the dark brown bark with some effort.
Ribbon
In the forest, a smooth birch without knots or cracks is selected. A vertical cut of 4-6 cm is made on it with a knife to remove the tape. Next, the bark needs to be peeled off in a spiral downwards around the trunk. An experienced master removes a continuous tape 100 meters long. It is important to ensure that the depth of the cut is small, within the cork layer, so that the birch tree does not dry out and after 10-15 years the protective bark appears on it again.
Plast
To remove the layer, you need to make a vertical cut to the entire reachable height of the tree and peel it off in layers of the same size, depending on how you plan to store the birch bark. You can first clean the barrel from the top white layer, thereby reducing the amount of work in the workshop.
Skoloten (cylinder)
It is more convenient to cut down a tree at a height of 1-1.20 meters. Next, identify all potential places for yourself. To remove the chips, the same white-trunked birch with the least number of knots, cracks and irregularities is selected. Required tools: two-handed saw, axe, knife, sword (saw blade). To remove chips and cut the tree into 2.50-3 meter logs. For ease of work, it is better to organize a place for removing birch bark at the level of the abdomen. The birch bark is removed by chopping from the butt to the top (but it can also be done the other way around). To begin with, an incision is made along the entire circumference of the trunk to indicate the length of the future chip. Next, the sap is inserted between the trunk and the cambium, and movements are made along the trunk, and the birch bark gradually peels off, this process is accompanied by abundant sap eruption. When, after difficult moments of peeling, it seems to you that this is it, now it should completely come off the tree, clasp the trunk with both hands and roll the birch bark a little in a circle. If the birch bark gives way, then you need to carefully remove it from the trunk. And be careful because there may be sharp protrusions on the trunk under the cambium that will tear all the work done, or thickening of the trunk can also ruin the chipping. Photos of the preparation of chips can be viewed at this link.

Storage
Birch bark is stored in dark, dry and ventilated areas (attic, basement, shed, storage room). Birch bark, immediately after being removed from the trunk, is rolled into balls, the white side up. A tape left uncurled for several hours becomes unsuitable for work. A good rule when twisting is one ball per birch tree. This will help when weaving in the workshop. However, if the birch bark is thin and the number of knots and cracks in the birch does not allow removing the birch bark at full height, then balls can be twisted from ribbons of different trees.
Birch bark, removed in layers, is laid between two wide boards or sheets of plywood, and a load is placed on top so that during storage the layers do not curl and are suitable for work. It is necessary to ensure that there is some space between the layers for drying. Birch bark can be stored in balls and layers for years. There are no special conditions for storing chips.
Birch bark stored in damp rooms becomes covered with mold, causing spots to appear on it. When birch bark is stored in light for a long time, it changes color and becomes light. In such conditions, birch bark gradually loses its properties. Therefore, old birch bark is soaked in water for a certain time, after which it can be used in work.

Treatment
First stage birch bark processing - removing the thin upper thin white layer from the bark on the rough surface of the tree immediately after harvesting in the forest or in the workshop using a regular brush and knife.
Second phase – delamination of birch bark into layers. Birch bark is multi-layered and not all layers can and should be used in weaving. Therefore, it is necessary to peel off the fragile top layers to the required thickness for each specific product, since a small salt shaker cannot be carefully made from thick strips, and vice versa, a large pester will look like a paper envelope with thin-layer material. From this we conclude that birch bark delamination is a rather complex and important stage in preparing the material for weaving.
Third stage – cutting strips (straps) of birch bark. You can cut material (birch bark or paper) in several ways: using scissors, using a knife and ruler, using a tape cutter. It is important to note the following point - the smoother the material is cut, the more convenient it will be when working with it.

Weaving
There are two types of weaving: oblique and straight. The names are explained by the angle (in degrees) the intersecting ribbons form with respect to the horizon. Straight weaving is more difficult to work with than oblique weaving. The main type of weaving is oblique weaving, due to its better manufacturability and strength. Basic weaving techniques can be found in the "Master Class" section.

Working with formation
To work with the formation, it is necessary to select birch bark with the least amount of heterogeneity. Required tools: knife, awl. Additional material: coniferous tree roots (pine, spruce), willow twig, bird cherry twig, birch bark tape. You will find some techniques for working with the layer in the “Master Class” section.

Making tues
Making tues is considered one of the most difficult in the birch bark craft.
Tues are made sheathed and reversible. The sheathing tues usually consists of 4 parts of birch bark: a clapper, a shirt and two upper and lower belts. The reverse tues consists only of the first two. As a rule, the shirt is connected with a lock, although they also made ties without a shirt, only with belts. The lock connecting the layer into a cylinder has many forms and principles of fastening. The tues can be braided with tree roots, birch bark, a strip of willow twig, rope, and wire. In the villages, tues were braided only from above. The bottom held the belt from below. For beauty, the lower belt is also braided.
When making a reverse shirt, the height of the collar should be greater than the height of the shirt. To fold the edge of the chip, you need to hold one edge in boiling water for a few seconds, and then fold it onto the shirt. Do the same with the other edge. In fact, everything is not so simple and without a visual sequence there is no way to explain the entire process of turning out the chip. Let this remain not the master’s secret, but a task for the authors for the future.
The bottom and lid are made in both round and oval shapes. There are many ways to make lids, depending on the location of the craft and trade. Suitable wood species, for example spruce, pine.
In some form you can see the diagrams of locks, braiding, covers at this link.

Embossing

In order to make it more fun, embossed drawings are made on the tues, as Grandfather Martyn said, depicting funny scenes from his village life on the Mezen. But embossed designs are also made for beauty, so that a bowl of buckwheat can stand on the kitchen shelf and show off. Embossing, first of all, is beauty, appropriateness, completeness of ornament. Ornament is the basis of the design. In this regard, you can look at the ornament on the pieces of Fatyanov M.F., Shutikhin A.V. etc., as well as look through books on ornaments.

Thread
Birch bark carvings are divided into geometric and floral carvings. The cutting technology is determined by the hardness of the hand, the quality of the material and the quality of the tool. The pattern is cut in different ways - along the layer of the shirt, or along the finished piece, although the second option is not technologically advanced. The most famous slotted birch bark is Shemogodskaya.

scratching
Birch bark is scratched, as a rule, with a metal tool - a knife, an awl, a needle. Autumn birch bark is used, which is removed from the tree with considerable effort. On such birch bark a thin layer of cambium remains, which is removed with a scratching tool during work.

painting
Paintings on birch bark products can be viewed in the "Articles" section.

Flying in the Tar
Far from villages, usually in the forest, small tar factories were built. At these factories, three liquid components were expelled from birch bark sheets: tar, turpentine and pitch. Tar was used to lubricate shoes, and was also used together with pitch in the construction of boats.
To distill these three components, three large clay vats were made. The vats were connected in series with a tube so that the liquid could flow from the first to the last vessel. The first vat had only one hole for the connecting pipe. The second one was intermediate, and therefore had an entrance and an exit. The third vat, in addition to the hole for the tube, had a tap through which the final product was expelled. Since this technology was recorded from the words of Valentina Dmitrievna Kuznetsova (Velsk), whose grandfather Pavel Kuznetsov was engaged in tar removal before and after the revolution, not the entire process is thoroughly remembered from distant childhood. Therefore, it is impossible to reconstruct in which vat what was expelled and how it was drained.
To pasture the tar, the plant had seven horses on its farm, on which large carts of birch bark sheets were brought. They worked a lot and diligently. There was good income, so in the twenties the workers’ families were dispossessed, and Kuznetsov’s grandfather Pavel was once taken to the city and no one saw him again. The plant was located in the Velsky district, Shadrinsky village council, not far from the village of Makarinskaya.
There was a furnace under the first vat (it is not known whether there was a furnace under other vats?). This vat was filled to capacity with birch bark and sealed tightly. There was no access to air. When a certain temperature was reached, the birch bark turned into a dark liquid, which was then poured into other vessels. It's the whole process.

Vessel construction

In different regions of the taiga belt of the Earth, birch bark is processed using the same methods and techniques, which have not changed from ancient times to the present day. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the half-shirt from the Arkhangelsk region is similar in manufacturing method to the Birch Bark Basket from the state of Alaska, and the hundred-year-old kuzovok of the Khanty people is similar to the products of a modern master from Maine. The birch bark boat from the Lower or Podkamennaya Tunguska has the same characteristics as those from Lake Michigan. They differ only in the method of decoration and ornament, which seems not surprising. Each nation has its own national identity and its own identity.
The birch bark canoes of the Indians of North America made a huge contribution to the development of a new continent by Europeans. First, pioneers, then industrialists and traders, and then settlers and missionaries moved by canoe along rivers and lakes. There was no more convenient and accessible means of transportation for the pioneers of America (see the full text of the article by the author Shutikhin A.V. at the address).

The sequence of making a modern birch bark boat can be seen.

Below are photographs and diagrams of the sequence of making a birch bark boat.

		Photos from the American site http://www.acbs.org and others.

Main tool
Everyone who works with birch bark uses a specific set of tools. Is it the same for everyone? His list? Why are there differences in names, shapes, materials, etc.? Let's try to answer these questions.
The set and number of tools depends on what specific processing the master is doing. The minimum kit for a braider is scissors (knife) and clamps (clothes clips). If you want to simplify the process of processing the material, a knife, a ruler (slat), templates for cutting tapes, and a tape cutter appear. When weaving, a cat (kodochik, kochedyk, etc.) made of bone, wood or metal is used. With its help, the gaps between the woven tapes widen, making it easier to pull the outer layer tape through.
The master's tool kit for working with layered birch bark is expanding. This is an awl for piercing holes for stitching layers together, and a tool for harvesting and processing pine roots - a metal hook/clip for pulling roots out of the ground, a tool for cleaning the root (several types of such tools), a tool for delaminating roots.
The set of a master making a tuft is supplemented by a punch - a tool for punching locks, a tool for working wood, a mallet is used to hammer the bottom into a hammer, hammers for emphasizing the beauty of the tues, and some other specific tools. As a rule, each master has his own special tool, so it is not possible to list all the devices.

List of main tools:

Images of some instruments:

Tin templates	Embossed from textolite	Wooden chasing
Embossed from textolite	Bone cats	Kiyanka
Metal ruler	Set of needle files	Knife
Knife	Scissors	Punch
Awl with a thickened tip	Awl with a refined tip	Flat chisel
Compass	Compass

Types of tape cutters
The tape cutter is designed for cutting birch bark in the form of tapes (strips, strips). Tape cutters can be divided into two groups: a tool for straightening a birch bark strip from a ball and a tool for cutting strips from a layer. The difference is that the first tool cuts on both sides, and the second only on one. Ribbon is used for weaving large and complex objects. Strips are used for weaving small products, prefabricated products (for example, sharkun) and as auxiliary ones. A tape cutter for tape can be made of two knives, perpendicularly mounted on a plane for pulling the tape or at a certain acute angle. The width of the tape is determined by the distance between the knives. A tool is also known, the cutting part of which is made of two pairs of sharpened washers rotating on an axis. The tape cutter for strips is carried out both in tabletop and manual form. One edge of the birch bark being processed touches a stop (wooden, for example), and the other side is cut with one or two knives that are in the same plane.
In the Wel Local History Museum there is a tape cutter made in the form of a root spinning wheel, on the base of which you had to sit, and the tape was passed through vertically mounted knives on a horizontal bar at chest level. The width of the tape was determined by wedges that were driven between the knives.

Making clamps
To begin with, I will list the clips I know: paper clips and alligator clips, clothespins, clips made from tree branches. I know that one master forbade his students to use paper clips, but taught them to make and use their own. Now we’ll quickly do them. Cut a birch or bird cherry branch of such a thickness that will be convenient for use. It is better to make different sized clamps for large and small products. Cut sticks from the branch so that there is a knot at one end. The length can vary from 3 to 10 centimeters. Sharpen the end of the stick opposite to the knot on one or both sides. Then split it with a knife into two equal halves down to the knot. That's all.

Making templates
Templates of various sizes are convenient to use if you do not have the opportunity to make one yourself or order a tape cutter from a metal craftsman. The templates are made of tin. Tin, which is used in construction, is better suited, but you can also cut a template from a tin can, blunting the edges. If there is no tin, for temporary use, you can make a template from cardboard. Below are diagrams for making the template.

Making coins
Embossing can be made from a wide variety of materials: wood, metal, bone, textolite, etc. Metal embossing can be made in the shape of a flower or the sun. To do this, take a 150-200 mm nail. and use a file to grind the sharp end down to a circle at the end. Then take a triangular file and mark a diametrical middle strip. Next, grind the end of the nail with a file at an angle of 30 degrees from center to middle. This can be done several times (6 or more). Then try making an impression on birch bark. Embossings from other materials are made using the same file and needle file, but an angle chisel, a knife and a drill with a wood drill can also be used.