Tar, glorious tar

[MorganTyre]

I was just applying a little tar to some decorative rope-work on a spear I was making when curiosity struck me and I did a google search for the maker of the can I have. Pine tar goes about as far back as sailing does and it's smell, probably more than any other, is the one synonymous with the sea. I personally love the stuff, having grown accustomed to it when working about some columbus ship replicas years ago. If you want to duplicate history to the point of smelling the part try slapping a coat of tar on some rope-work, splatter a bit on some old rags of costume, or maybe rub some in to your hands to give them the dirty "handled a lot of rigging" look. If you want the smell but don't want the dirt they also apparently have pine tar soap (which I've used but not this particular brand) and even hand lotion.

http://www.tarsmell.com/products.html

The also sell a synthetic manilla line that I'm not familiar with but is intriguing. If anyone knows any of the characteristics of the line - stretch, creep, working load, etc. please lemme know.

[Patrick Hand]

Someplace in Capt. Twill, I found and posted a web page telling the history of tar (pine tar... not the stuff used on roads....)

It was an informitive read......

(hey... do you think I'm going to look it up again, just to post the link here........... )

[King's Pyrate]

Smell is indeed a wonderful thing. We tend to associate good and bad things by their smell.

When I was small I would go to sea with my father who was captain of a shrimp trawler. The smells of the boat, although awful to some, were smells I grew to associate with the time spent on the boat. The nets drug the bottom where the shrimp lived and were tarred to make them last longer. When the nets hung above the deck to dry the hot Florida sun would cause the tar smell to cover the boat and mix with the salt and seafood smells.

For the rest of my life similar smells would stimulate my memories of the wonderful time I spent at sea as a boy.

One other smell I grew to love was the smell of the diesel exhaust as the wind whipped it back on deck......To this day when a bus goes by, I raise my head and sniff the blowing exhaust and think of those days on the shrimp boat.

Thank You....you just reminded me of those wonderful days at sea.

King's Pyrate

[MorganTyre]

Someplace in Capt. Twill, I found and posted a web page telling the history of tar (pine tar... not the stuff used on roads....)

It was an informitive read......

(hey... do you think I'm going to look it up again, just to post the link here........... )

I looked back and found the page you were talking about:

http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-kaye-tar.htm

Yep, neat stuff.

[JohnnyTarr]

And here I thought you were calling for me.

[historyfanatic]

I can vouch for the synthetic manilla rope. I usually go for the REAL thing as much as possible, but I have to say the synthetic manilla is worth its weight in gold. All of the Lady Washington's running rigging is made of it and it doesn't swell when wet, it doesn't stretch as much when new, it doesn't rot, it can carry more weight for its size, and (most importantly) it doesn't leave parts of itself in your hands! The best part is that you have to literally hold it in your hands to tell the difference. It looks like manilla or hemp. I like it very much!!

[Tar Bucket Bill]

Curious about tar and pitch for a couple of reasons.

I have a pint of Pine Tar I bought from a horse supply shop years ago. It's manufactured for HORSE HEALTH PRODUCTS which is a Division of Farnam Companie, Inc. in Omaha, NE

I think it is sold for the treatment of horse's hooves.

But isn't pine tar just pine tar no matter what the ultimate usage? No, it's not Stockholm Tar though.

This is a sticky gooey brownish black substance with a sharp odor.

As an experiment I coated some hemp twine with it using my finger and thumb. The hemp twine now looks dark brownish, but not black. I'm not sure how long the twine will remain sticky and tacky, because I just coated it.

Is this pine tar I have usable for my ropes, twines and such? And how exactly should I apply it? It seems far too thick to brush it on rope and twine -- that's why I used my thumb and finger to work it in. Should I thin some pine tar out with turpentine and then apply it to ropes with a brush? Not sure really what to do here.

When pirates and highwaymen and such were executed and then "tarred" and put into a gibbet iron for lengthy display, what kind of tar, or pitch, was used?

Sometimes I see something used for this referred to as "molten pitch" or "hot tar", or that the body was just "tarred" to preserve it longer. I think I once saw a reference that Captain Kidd was dipped in molten pitch. Pitch is normally hard and brittle though, isn't it?

-Tar Bucket Bill

[Hester]

If you want to duplicate history to the point of smelling the part try slapping a coat of tar on some rope-work, splatter a bit on some old rags of costume, or maybe rub some in to your hands to give them the dirty "handled a lot of rigging" look. If you want the smell but don't want the dirt they also apparently have pine tar soap (which I've used but not this particular brand) and even hand lotion.

http://www.tarsmell.com/products.html

Morgan Tyre:

I'm cross-posting this over to the Mermaid Spa because ... well, it's just hilarious!

Thank you for the aromatherapy tip.

Cheers, Hester