Wood finish

[MorganTyre]

Over the last couple of years I've mentioned in here about using my "normal pine-tar finish" on various projects (axe handle, gun stock, needle cases) but I'd never elaborated on what that is. Well, I just mixed up a batch so I thought I'd share. Here's the mix I picked up years ago when I was working on wooden boats:

4 parts Boiled Linseed Oil

4 parts Turpentine

1 part Pine Tar

1 part Japan Drier

Mix well and slap it on much as you would teak oil or tung oil. The end result is a well wearing finish with a dark golden color. It's also a great preservative. The turpentine really thins it out so it's penetrating. Don't expect a thick glossy coating like a varnish would give. Keep in mind that whatever you put it on WILL smell strongly of pinetar for a good long time which in my mind is a good thing but your mileage may vary. This is a traditional work boat finish and (short of the drier) is %100 natural materials which have been used in this way since the dawn of time and would have been commonplace during the GAoP.

I've also done:

1 part Boiled Linseed Oil

1 part Pine Tar

Which was my slush mix for tarred rigging

[Littleneckhalfshell]

Pine Tar, exactly what is it, and where do you get it? Well not exactly what I wanted to ask.....

I have a big old pine tree that the woodpeckers seem to like and there is a lot of bleeding sap running down and collecting in large clumps here and there. I scraped off a bunch of it with a ice chopper and put it into a coffee can and heated it up on the propane grill, melting it into a liquid state. I strained it through a strainer into another coffee can.

The result was an amber colored liquid that set up solid, hard when it is below 45 degrees, when it warms up to around 60 degrees it is soft enough to push your finger into like a carmel candy. Did I make 'Pine Tar' ? if that is basically what I have, what consistency should it be? Is your pine tar before you mix it with the other ingredients like honey? or thicker or thinner? I assume that I would thin it with turpentine, but have no idea what consistency I am shooting for.

Anyway, would love to hear if anyone else has tried to make their own, I assume that I was to some degree boiling off the turpentine in the process and if I had been able to condense it, would have had some to mix back in to thin the goo.

[Dutchman]

littleneck, you are half way there-what you have is pine sap that is then turned into the tar. the tar gets its color from the burning down and resulting carbon of the burnt pine. to make the tar you will need a kiln with a strainer at the bottom- it also means the woodpeckers will loose their roost.

as far as applying- I would reccomend thining the first coat out with a little more turpentine to let it penetrate the wood then make the next coat a bit thicker to seal it in. the thickness will vary depending on the temperature and the parts of chemichals used. penetrating coats will run like water, sealing coats should be like a thin modelers glue- think doping a model airplane- did i just date myself?

again..... BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN MIXING THIS STUFF IT IS VERY FLAMABLE AND HAS AN AMAZINGLY LOW FLASH POINT!!!!!! BE CAREFUL!!!!!!

[callenish gunner]

Dutch me lad you only dated your father, since I'm certain he's the one who showed you how to do the dopeing of model planes... I still have about 5 yards of silk for planes

[MorganTyre]

Pine Tar, exactly what is it, and where do you get it? Well not exactly what I wanted to ask.....

I have a big old pine tree that the woodpeckers seem to like and there is a lot of bleeding sap running down and collecting in large clumps here and there. I scraped off a bunch of it with a ice chopper and put it into a coffee can and heated it up on the propane grill, melting it into a liquid state. I strained it through a strainer into another coffee can.

The result was an amber colored liquid that set up solid, hard when it is below 45 degrees, when it warms up to around 60 degrees it is soft enough to push your finger into like a carmel candy. Did I make 'Pine Tar' ? if that is basically what I have, what consistency should it be? Is your pine tar before you mix it with the other ingredients like honey? or thicker or thinner? I assume that I would thin it with turpentine, but have no idea what consistency I am shooting for.

Anyway, would love to hear if anyone else has tried to make their own, I assume that I was to some degree boiling off the turpentine in the process and if I had been able to condense it, would have had some to mix back in to thin the goo.

If I remember correctly one of the old foxfire books had a section on home making pine tar. It's one of the original cottage industries. The consistency is a little like thin honey. It also has a very very distinctive smell. It is commercially available though it can be hard to find (http://www.tarsmell.com/tar.html is my source) but a single quart will last a very long time.

[Sjöröveren]

Pine Tar, exactly what is it, and where do you get it? Well not exactly what I wanted to ask.....

I have a big old pine tree that the woodpeckers seem to like and there is a lot of bleeding sap running down and collecting in large clumps here and there. I scraped off a bunch of it with a ice chopper and put it into a coffee can and heated it up on the propane grill, melting it into a liquid state. I strained it through a strainer into another coffee can.

The result was an amber colored liquid that set up solid, hard when it is below 45 degrees, when it warms up to around 60 degrees it is soft enough to push your finger into like a carmel candy. Did I make 'Pine Tar' ? if that is basically what I have, what consistency should it be? Is your pine tar before you mix it with the other ingredients like honey? or thicker or thinner? I assume that I would thin it with turpentine, but have no idea what consistency I am shooting for.

Anyway, would love to hear if anyone else has tried to make their own, I assume that I was to some degree boiling off the turpentine in the process and if I had been able to condense it, would have had some to mix back in to thin the goo.

I always thought that rendered and concentrated pine sap like this was "resin", essentially the same as the "rosin" that is used on fiddle bows. I don't really know - I'm not a boat-builder, and barely a fiddler. (I'll have to ask my sign-painting, fiddle-playing brother.)

Here's a description from www.tarsmell.com of their product:

Genuine Stockholm Tar, "The Real Stuff." Using a process that is centuries old, pine stumps and roots are burned very slowly in special kilns. A resin-rich liquor flows out of the bottom of the kiln and is caught and barreled. This is authentic Stockholm tar. Stockholm tar has been valued for hundreds of years as a preservative for word and natural fiber rope. It is the smell of the square-rigged ship. It is used today in ships, small and large, that sail for a living. Traditional sailors describe this rare grade of tar in words usually reserved for fine wines and tobaccos.

[sutlerjon]

Must get mighty lonesome out on the "Peninsula" if ye gotta "Date" yerself .....

(carpal tunnel?)

Either that or Dutchies very self-absorbed, either way seek some therapy or at least company.

I won't even open the can o' worms 'bout datin' yer Father.

Please forgive me, I'm so sorry, but I couldn't resist

Edited April 13, 2009 by sutlerjon