On a couple of occations I've been so lucky to find sap in wounds of cherry trees. Last time I found several substantial, hardened lumps. They seem to
occur on all prunus species around here, tough very rarely and usually in small amounts. Those big lumps I found were black on the outside, but ember coloured
on the inside. It felt like rubber and the fresher pieces were very sticky, but with more integrity than pine or spruce pitch.
I tried heating these things up, thinking that they would make excellent glue. I found that heating cherry pitch will only make it brittle and not melt it like with spruce or pine pitch. However, a light boil makes it like jelly until it dries again. I used it to glue a biface into an antler handle and unlike spruce pitch, which I usually employ, it already feels like it's fused together. Almost like superglue. I think that the bond will furter strenghten over the next weeks as it dries out totally, so I'm going to leave it for a week or so before using it.
The disadvantage I see with this pitch over spruce pitch is that it is slightly water soluable, so I'll probably coat a layer of spruce pitch and fat over it.
I have never heard of cherry pitch being employed for anything before. But I assure you, it's well worth a try!
I tried heating these things up, thinking that they would make excellent glue. I found that heating cherry pitch will only make it brittle and not melt it like with spruce or pine pitch. However, a light boil makes it like jelly until it dries again. I used it to glue a biface into an antler handle and unlike spruce pitch, which I usually employ, it already feels like it's fused together. Almost like superglue. I think that the bond will furter strenghten over the next weeks as it dries out totally, so I'm going to leave it for a week or so before using it.
The disadvantage I see with this pitch over spruce pitch is that it is slightly water soluable, so I'll probably coat a layer of spruce pitch and fat over it.
I have never heard of cherry pitch being employed for anything before. But I assure you, it's well worth a try!
Torgus, Yes you can distill birch bark tar with out pottery. First make a
small hole into ground and place a shell or wood/bark bowl at the bottom. Cover with green birch bark with a hole over bowl. Build an oven with clay and rock
above ground around the birch bark floor of your oven. Fill the oven with birch bark stacked vertical. Place another sheet of green birch bark over top of oven
then clay, dirt, or rock to seal the oven. Build big fire over top and sides of oven. Let burn for 4 to 6 hours. When it cools dig out the shell or bowl with
birch oil. A big clam shell would work nicely to simmer the oil down to tar. I have made tar this way. A Neanderthal spear point was found with his thumb print
in birch bark tar. It dated to 80,000 years. How these guys figured this out is beyond me. Maybe they were making charcoal and found some tar in the pit.
cheers fiddler49
