usually, lye won't have to be added more than a 1:1 ratio to the bark. So if adding more lye doesn't work, then its probably the amount of water that's the problem. Use ~15-20ml water at least per gram of bark. I've encountered this problem many times, and more than often, for me, the emulsion problem is due to the insufficient amount of water, not lye.

Hell no!
It won't hurt, but the water is all that needs to be incresased.