Help with Cork Bark

[iminuru]

Hey everyone, so I'm brand new to the hobby and wanted to say that after literally reading every post I've decided to go ahead and set up a viv. I ended up with some great slabs of natural cork bark, but they're slightly curved and was wondering if anyone know how to flatten them. I saw that flat ones are available for sale, but would hate to waste them. Thanks in advance.

[ChrisK]

Welcome - well there's really no economical way to flatten the natural cork bark, the best way to do it is to silicone the points that touch the glass to the glass, then fill in behind and around them with some type of sphagnum moss, peat moss, great stuff, substrate, clay, etc mixture, in this tank I filled in behind them with the substrate mix I was using, then between them with the clay mixture, anything you gotta do to make it frog-proof so they can't get behind it
Corner pentagon with sodium bentonite background

[Boondoggle]

I've come across that problem before and used sprayfoam to fill the backs. After it completely dries you can just cut it flat with a saw...but...

I remember seeing a thread where someone took curved cork and cut long straight vertical lines in it every three inches. I imagine you would need a band saw or table saw, but once the strips were put together the grain matched up and it looked pretty good. It kept its uneven texture but lost the curve. It also has the added benefit of gaining floor space that would have been lost under the curved bark. Im going to try this method next time myself.

[jon]

Slice the back vertically, lay it on the floor/table/counter, and put a lot of weight on the top. Let it sit like that for a week or so, and you will have a flat piece of cork.

[Dean]

I wouldn't use it the frogs will get behind it eventually I like fern root or nothing just plants with suction cups stuck to the glass.

[iminuru]

Thanks for the replies everyone. All great ideas.

Originally Posted by jon

Slice the back vertically, lay it on the floor/table/counter, and put a lot of weight on the top. Let it sit like that for a week or so, and you will have a flat piece of cork.

Did you just score it?

Thanks-C.P.

[jon]

Yeah. That's the word I was looking for. Score.

[hexentanz]

Originally Posted by jon

Slice the back vertically, lay it on the floor/table/counter, and put a lot of weight on the top. Let it sit like that for a week or so, and you will have a flat piece of cork.

Agreed! This works like a charm.

[ChrisK]

It doesn't curl back up after a while if you try to flatten it?

[iminuru]

I'm gonna try it out and hopefully it'll work for me. Thanks for the help