At my Dad’s suggestion, I used a draw knife to take the bark off the grapevine we are using as a handrail.

The draw knife is held by both handles and pulled along the wood. It is truly excellent for removing bark. I waited until after a rain so the bark was softened, which also helped. It wasn’t quite able to get all the bark off. I was working by myself and didn’t want to unscrew the vine from the supports because it took three of us to wrestle it in place. When I have help, I’ll take the vine off the brackets, finish removing the bark, and give it a good sanding. Then we’ll let it dry before putting on a protective finish.