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Pitch glue recipe for arrows
wally:
Hi
Yeah grind the bone to powder, you don't need much, probably a large pinch to small lump of resin glue, or until you feel it's right for you. There's only a few rules in primitive, and mostly we learn like our ancestors did, trial and error.
Collecting it. In England early Autumn, about this time of year, I think you call it fall, there is usually some still running but mostly solidified, and that's when I collect most. It comes from natural lesions or tears in the bark and you will see its trail usually white or brownish running down, sometimes, handily for us, even coagulating in holes.
Not all trees have it so you have forage and gather where you find it. Last weekend in a copse of about 80 spruce I found 4 bleeders and collecting a handful in about 10 minutes ( careful it sticks to your knives and fingers and it's a bitch to wash off). You can collect it all year, because if nobody has taken it it will still be there in spring usually whiteish and hard, or sometimes it can look just like bark in colour and texture. It smells great and I get as much pleasure digging it out of holes in trees as I do working with. Get small pleasures from where you can. You can even, without hurting the tree, cut the bark in spring and wait for about 6 month. I don't, and really there should be enough damaged trees around without needing to. Happy collecting
Papa Matt:
Great Wally, thanks for all the info!! I' going out right now to see if I can collect any.
Much appreciated
~~Papa Matt
Pat B:
Matt, I collect it as I find it. I keep a small Ziploc bag in my hunting pack just for it. If it is too oozy I leave it until later.
When you heat it up it will become the consistency of thick molasses. I only cook the oozy stuff to evaporate the volatile oils and use heat the hard stuff just to melt it.
Generally you have to remove debris(bark, dirt, saw dust from insect damage) from the pitch. I am curious what method ya'll use. I have tried a few methods with some success. I have herd of boiling pitch in water. the pitch and debris will separate and the water poured or cooked off. I haven't tried this method yet but plan to to see if I get better results. Pat
madcrow:
Here is my sap store.
I try to wait until it dries and then take it off the tree. This one starts running from 18 feet up and runs for about ten feet. The last time I went, I got a two gallon trash can full. I buy the cheap disposable aluminum pans from the dollar store to melt it in. I made a wooden frame around some aluminum screen mesh, lay it on the pan and lay a pile of pitch on it and heat it with a heat gun. It melts and runs down into the pan. Mesh kitchen strainers work also. I try to let it cool after a thin layer, then it will shatter like glass and crumble into a coarse powder and I store it in zip lock bags. Ready to heat and mix then.
Otoe Bow:
Armed with knowledge, but wanting for time. Maybe this weekend. Thanks for the help guys.
Mike
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