Distilling fatwood?

[paulc]

 I came across some bonus Fatwood the other day, tried today to distill it. I have 1/2 a soup can of brownish, honey or syrup thick material...can I continue to simmer it till it begins to harden?   Or will it stay sticky?

Thanks, Paul

[Pat B]

Yes, Paul you can cook out the volatile oils and end up with hard, brittle pitch. Be careful because it will burst into flame if it gets too hot.

[paulc]

I dumped the dregs from the paint can, thinking it was just charcoal, into my dying fire...not gasoline poof but it was a bit alarming for a sec or two  :-)  . Hate to spill this stuff on a person when its burning....

And I put a handle on my first "knife".

Paul

[Pat B]

Well done. 
 You can also boil the fat wood to leach the pitch out of it. Mullet just mentioned this a week or so ago.

[Yooper Bowyer]

I dumped the dregs from the paint can, thinking it was just charcoal, into my dying fire...not gasoline poof but it was a bit alarming for a sec or two  :-)  . Hate to spill this stuff on a person when its burning....

Yea, this stuff is like napalm.  I've burnt some by accident before and it is impressive!  It's to hard to get to burn for fun though. 

I wish there was a way to keep a little of the oil in it, because other wise it's just not that sticky, and far to brittle IMO for point mounting.

[Pat B]

A little bees wax will soften it enough to make it less brittle but it won't be sticky until you heat it to use for hafting. I add a bit of finely ground charcoal to add body.

[gutpile]

if it acts like pitch add beeswax and hardwood ash to adjust consistency and eliminate the brittleness... some add crushed up deer or rabbit pellets too... but I like the beeswax and ash ..mine is really nice and doesn't get brittle unless cooked too long...gut

[Pat B]

If the pitch is at all sticky when cool it will pick up trash and debris. That's why I like hard, brittle pitch mixed with the bees wax. It will make the pitch less brittle but not sticky when cool. There are other additives that will raise the melting point of the pitch but I can't remember what they are.