Tar problems

[dennydrewcook]

Had a lot of bark I wanted to get rid of this weekend so decided to make birch tar but my end result after simmering down was very watery and after setting was not at all sticky can anybody tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you


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[Toddy]

It is runny. You can very, very, very, carefully heat it up and thicken it a bit, but it'll burst into flames give any chance at all. The fumes catch.

Most folks just add stuff to the tar. Fine organic dust is the usual; from rabbit droppings to charcoal, fine ash to fine sawdust.
That lets you mould it into small rods or olives, and you can pack those for use without the blooming stuff running all over everything.

You can also thicken it up with beeswax, but depending on what you actually want to use the tar for, that might not be the best idea.

I think that's the sticking point; what do you want to use the tar for ?

M

 

[dennydrewcook]

Ah that clears it up now I was going to use it to attach some rough arrow heads but wanted to store for other projects aswell thank you


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[Toddy]

So you really want it to be a resinous type glue ?
That's a really good reason to add fine organic debris, because resin is hard, and it can shatter if it hits something (like the impact of an arrow fired into something, or missing and glancing off) but if you add the organic stuff it kind of stops it shattering, it gives it a little more flexibility.
The tar you have though can be (and this is beyond messy ) be used to soak strips of very thin fibrous material (nettle fibres, flax, beaten sinew, etc.,) and those used to bind the head to the shaft.

Up front, the only time I watched someone do this, he then scorched the whole thing to 'set' it and I thought then that it was a) chancy since flint can explode (and it does) and b) threatened to risk the whole thing if he got it wrong.
On the other hand, he seemed very capable, his arrows were very tidy and secure and he used them to great effect.

Bound to be someone along who knows a lot more about this than I do. Hopefully they'll chime in, but you could maybe introduce the topic on the archery bit ?

atb,
M

 

[bobnewboy]

Go onto Primitive Archer website, to the Community / Message Boards (forum), go into the Arrows subforum, and then do a search on there for pitch. You will find all you need. The guys on there hunt with knapped points where allowed by US State law, and their work is incredible.