Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills

Pine pitch

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Tsalagi:
Pat, those sap chunks look familiar. Is that the pinyon sap?

Pat B:
Nope! I think that is plain old Tennessee jack pine.  ;D  The pinion pine sap you sent me does make very good glue and varnish. It has a darker amber color too.
..and smells real good!  ;D

walkabout:
if the pitch is still tacky at room temperature does it need more cooking? the batch i just made will harden pretty well but wants to stick to surfaces i set the sticks on

Pat B:
When done and cooled the pitch should be hard and brittle, not tacky at all. If you make glue or varnish with the tacky stuff the finished product will also be tacky. It will eventually harden up naturally but that could take a while.

JackCrafty:
Pat knows his stuff on pine pitch, so I can't add much here.

I will say that adding beeswax lowers the melting temperature.  That's important around here where temperatures inside a car can reach well over 150 degrees.  I've had pitch/beeswax glue melt and run off completely from arrows left in my car.  I don't know the exact temperature when beeswax will melt, but it's much lower than pitch.

Consequently, I use very little beeswax now.  I need to experiment with fat or tallow, like Jamie mentioned.  My pitch glue is brittle.

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