Birch serving table for a cabin deck

[Mike N]

I cut the birch trees right behind the house. I bleached the bark even whiter using white wall tire cleaner. I then sealed it with spray polyurethane.

The backsplash is the leftover live edge from the sugar maple table project I posted.

The table top is two 3/4" pieces of birch veneer plywood glued together. Total cost less than $30.

The small post on back left is to hang serving utensils. I purposely left the small gap under the top birch border to sweep out crumbs.

[john elder]

Nice, Mike! Will the bark hold or did you shellace it or use another coat?

[Mike N]

Excellent question, Dr. Elder.

Eastern white birch really has two layers of bark and the top thin white paper-like layer can be removed without killing the tree, although it makes it more vulnerable to insects.

I love the "peeling off" look, but did seal it with a spray polyurethane so that hopefully my great-grandkids can enjoy it, too.

Here are a few more pics of the project.

v