Clarifying spruce resin ?
- Thread starter ozzy1977
- Start date
Depends on whether you want it black or not.
If you don't mind, take something like a beer can and cut the bottom off it. Punch some holes through the hollowed base and pile the resin in that. Put some kind of catch container underneath the beer can and then set fire to the resin. It burns but it melts too, and it drips through clean without the muck in it.
HWMBLT makes me the most beautiful clear amber coloured resin though by dissolving it first in something like real turpentine and straining out the debris, then evaporating off the turps.
The house smells wonderful while he's doing it
I dissolved the resin in warm olive oil (it needs broken up, so keep a wee stick to hand to gently pound it in the jar) and then strain it out that way. Again it's clean, but the oil resin mix isn't solid unless I reheat with beeswax. It makes great furniture polish or portective coating for wooden handles, etc.,
I have a big pot of resin to be cleaned up; interested to hear how other folks do it
cheers,
Toddy
If you don't mind, take something like a beer can and cut the bottom off it. Punch some holes through the hollowed base and pile the resin in that. Put some kind of catch container underneath the beer can and then set fire to the resin. It burns but it melts too, and it drips through clean without the muck in it.
HWMBLT makes me the most beautiful clear amber coloured resin though by dissolving it first in something like real turpentine and straining out the debris, then evaporating off the turps.
The house smells wonderful while he's doing it
I dissolved the resin in warm olive oil (it needs broken up, so keep a wee stick to hand to gently pound it in the jar) and then strain it out that way. Again it's clean, but the oil resin mix isn't solid unless I reheat with beeswax. It makes great furniture polish or portective coating for wooden handles, etc.,
I have a big pot of resin to be cleaned up; interested to hear how other folks do it
cheers,
Toddy
I made a pitch stick, where you melt it down, mix in powdered charcoal and beeswax then form it round a stick and you have pitch for use as glue etc. If you didn't want to do this, the stage where I melted it down some of the bits- mainly larger ones it was able to fish out with a pair of pliers- so if you let the harden you'd probably have cleaner resin .
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Two ways I have tried recently was to place the resin on some fine metal mesh and place this over a plastic pot. I heated this in the oven at just below 100 degrees F which worked but is slow. A better way to heat and melt with this method is in the Microwave but you have to heat in short bursts to minimise the metal sparking. Maybe plastic mesh would work like a tea strainer?
I got some lovely clear amber resin by this method that remains pliable but will break cleanly if bent.
I got some lovely clear amber resin by this method that remains pliable but will break cleanly if bent.
I have used the beer can method a few times but placed a piece of hessian cloth between them. Came out amber clear both times.
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