Fatwood for life

[MSkiba]

Well me and BazP been searching high and low for fatwood but could never get the right one, we been checking the lake district, parks the lot and could never find any. Always wrong tree (larch etc..).. And I refuse to buy it off the web as it defeats the object.

I once thought I found some, smelt like it, looked like it, but at middlewood Blacksheep shown me some proper stuff which made me think twice.

Then I thought, how about my local park? After a stroll I found a stump and a dead tree. I call it the Holy Grail. After some rough processing here is a piccie

I think I got enough fatwood for life would you not agree?

 

[northumbrian]

you jammy bstrd lol
well done ! canny find , that little lot should start a few BONNAS (BONFIRES) lol

cheers Andrew .

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Its awsome stuff.... To the extent it took over my life for a few months trying to find some LoL!

I would say you have more than enough for a lifetime, and it dosen't seem to mind sitting around, some of mine actually improved and hardened as it dried.

Some shavings to take a spark, followed by a few matchsticks will light secondary tinder well and I've lit fires with just a few grams of the stuff. Managed to find three different type's now.

Very resin heavy/sticky, light soft wood that lights like its been soaked in napalm and hard nearly fossilised and smells totally different to the other two, kind-of like a cross between mud and cattle.

To give you an idea... the bit i have pointed out (badly LoL) would probably light 2-3 fires with feathersticks or dry twigs as a secondary.

Have fun and enjoy, al.

 

[MSkiba]

Yup. still cutting them down to size, threre's so much. I still have a full stump in the garden full of fatwood ive not yet started on. This stuff wrecks your knife!

whats the best method to make dust out of it? rather than shaving it with a blade?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I guess you could make a crude scraper out of a hack saw blade maybe... Thats if you want to go down the firesteel route.

It depends on the type you have really, I'm guessing the really sticky stuff if its sticking to your knife!

You could try one of those micro grinders you get for catering, like a very sharp cheese grater.

Or, just buy a mora for the purpose... a SS one will cost you no more than a few quid, and the blade can be placed in a mug of boiling water form time to time, to remove the sap from the blade.

Just a few ideas

al.

 

[Melonfish]

plane it for small shavings, get sections on a belt sander for dust.

 

[royce22]

Looks like you're sorted there (for a while at least ;o) )
Took me a while to find my first lot, but now have 3 good stumps. Still toying with the idea of taking a shovel and digging them up (as suggested by TBL) altough they are quite big lol
Well done on the find
Roy

 

[Nagual]

Hmm, you lucky so n so lol. So, whats the ideal type of tree to get this from, please don't say pine.. lol I mean to say what specific kinds of tree?

Cheers,

 

[MSkiba]

Scot's pine I got this lot from.

 

[Woden]

No experience in the matter, but id say scots pine as the resin is very flammable, in the summer if you rip the bark plates off, there is chunks of the stuff on the underneath which can be scraped and collected. Its great for getting a fire started

 

[Loenja]

sorry but what exactly is fat wood??
which tree?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I'm no expert and i hope the OP dosen't mind the description...
Its not a complicated subject, finding some is another matter LoL!

Sap rises and falls through the tree (pine in this case) depending on season. Sometimes a tree is felled, or possibly dies through a lightning strike but the roots in both cases stay alive (hypothetically) and spring time pump moisture back up into the tree/stump. The return process is no longer there as the tree is dead, or missing, so the sap saturates/locks into the wood, eventually concentrates through evaporation into a sticky resin and becomes fat (resin) laiden wood.

At a guess this chemical change could take 10 or more years to complete.

The name fatwood is american. There are also a few other names from region to region.

Turpintine is derived from pine, a highly flamable substance... As a resin, its also highly flamable, waterprooof and do's not decay.

Sorry for the waffle, i just thought it might help!

Scots pine is where all mine came from, felled stumps and also a branch section of a dead tree.

Happy hunting

al.

 

[Loenja]

I'm no expert and i hope the OP dosen't mind the description...
Its not a complicated subject, finding some is another matter LoL!

Sap rises and falls through the tree (pine in this case) depending on season. Sometimes a tree is felled, or possibly dies through a lightning strike but the roots in both cases stay alive (hypothetically) and spring time pump moisture back up into the tree/stump. The return process is no longer there as the tree is dead, or missing, so the sap saturates/locks into the wood, eventually concentrates through evaporation into a sticky resin and becomes fat (resin) laiden wood.

At a guess this chemical change could take 10 or more years to complete.

The name fatwood is american. There are also a few other names from region to region.

Turpintine is derived from pine, a highly flamable substance... As a resin, its also highly flamable, waterprooof and do's not decay.

Sorry for the waffle, i just thought it might help!

Scots pine is where all mine came from, felled stumps and also a branch section of a dead tree.

Happy hunting

al.

ok thanks thought it was something like that

 

[Sherwood]

After reading this thread I took my Laplander out for a play and harvested some fatwood i'd had my eye on for a while, it was a fallen trunk and all the outer of the trunk was very soft and rotten, and easily kicked away revealing a solid core. I cut a small "v" section out first and it was very rich in resin, so cut myself a couple of blocks ready for processing.
This is what it started out as -

Theres still more to collect, I did process a small amount and made a featherstick, this ignited very easily and burnt well, so I know its the real deal

 

[Shewie]

Nice haul Ski, reminds me I need to replenish my stocks too

 

[baz p]

can i have some ? just that small peace in the middle...

 

[lannyman8]

lucky bugger, i need to get looking when im out and about.......

 

[MSkiba]

Thanks for reply's!

When lit it should sparkle (snap crackle and pop when lit, just like when igniting pine pitch) and give lots of black smoke. I popped a stick into a glass of water for 15 minutes. shook the water off and it ignited straight away and stayed lit (even when held upright). This stuff is amazing and the hard work paid off.

Now to try the hot water trick to clean my knife! When I first spotted it I only had my folding jack pike knife on me. Needless to say, the tip snapped off, then the knife folded on my fingers, outch! If any of you are thinking of getting some for the first time, use a knife you dont care about, and make sure its a solid knife this stuff looks like glass, and cuts like glass.

 

[MSkiba]

can i have some ? just that small peace in the middle...

Your the one who collected it with me! But I got the better deal as the stump is in my garden now =)

 

[Barn Owl]

Man, that's a great haul.