Thanks Larry: It's good to have some clarity on the subject. As an aside in Ontario The tar is referred to as Mastic Atleast that's what my dad called it when he repaired our cottage roof in 1952 & the repairs still hold. Brian 77
Hi Larry, we made birch oil today at a local, and growing, primitive skills gathering, Puckerbrush, located here in down east coastal Maine, it would be great to see some Alone members attend, Fowler is about 2 hours away from the area. Any way, we cooked a gallon of birch bark for about half an hour for the first batch which filled one of those jam jars about half full, as a side note there was still sticky bark in the container but mostly charred bark. The second burn was cooked hotter and for about an hour with a little more yield. I'm about to birch oil up a self bow I made with a group lead by Stim Willcox, a legendary bow maker. Its great stuff and the smell in unmistakable, I'm lucky my wife actually likes the smell, too.
Yep, if there is still sticky bark in the bottom then it could be burned longer to extract more oil. Slower longer burn times work better for me. Also the fresher the bark the more yield. I'm always open to attend as many gatherings as I can. The only bummer is the cost, travel time, and limited time off work. So many gathering, so little time...
Fatwood renders down, but you already know this. I'm not sure about stuff like birch though. I've never even done the fat wood thing, but I saw them do it at the Pathfinder Gathering.
Thanks Larry for showing the differences. So, would a "black save" be a birch oil or birch tar mixed with bees wax or tallow or something similar? Thanks for sharing
A salve you mean? I've never heard the term "black salve", but I'd have to say yes. I've never personally made a salve from birch oil, but I've seen it done like your talking about and also adding plantain.
Can the oil be used as a replacement for store purchased boot polish? Trying to find natural alternatives that can be made outdoors and not bought. Thanx
@@LarryRobertsbc Gave my axe sheath and boots a good coat of freshly made oil and the leather is water repellent and super supple. They polished up real good man with just a plain rag. I'll be coating them more often with the oil than any polish now i think. Its great stuff.
I’ve never noticed too much of a difference in the time of year, except for the actual rendering part. If the ground is wet it will put water in your finished product. The water can be separated, but it can be a pain.
Wish I had access to Birch, I’m too far south here in Florida for Birch Trees. I have however recently discovered 50/50 mix of Pine Tar & BLO for my wood handles. I like the darker finish I get with this mix and the non slip tactile grip of the Pine Tar. Did you get that shirt from Bryan Stevens? Looks like something he'd have :-)
My wife got me the shirt, she knows I like Chuck. What is BLO? I have birch, but not the best fat wood so I've never experimented with rendering it down.
Hey Larry. Thanks for the video. I am more of a classic chemo-science guy who learned the hard way that most engineered chemicals are big time toxic. I avoid all pharma stuff and use all natural...all I can. Q: 'Tars' of any kind of oil are usually very potent. You seem to have no fear of it altering the genetic information in the cells of your hands...bringing forth some unforeseen issue. Any thoughts?
I don’t have a problem putting the tar on my hands. I don’t use it very often, so I’m not too worried. Besides that, all the info I’ve seen is that it’s non toxic and actually beneficial.
