This brought memories of over 50 years ago. We often painted riding horse hooves with it, and suddenly, I remembered the smell. I came back, to look for more details of the tar itself, as I had never thought about it. I am listening to a series of stories of allied men becoming prisoners of war, in WW2, and one chap, escaping, painted his shoes with stockholm tar! Of course, I could imagine it - and the fresh smell. The young men researching the stories are wondering if it is a bland or strong smell, to help escape, it is so removed fromyoung lives. and I am just grinning at the memories and a new use for that tar, a strong memory of my childhood and teen years. I am sniffing the remembered smell, as I type. I had never thought of how stockholm tar is produced. Thank you from Oz.
I just think it's great that you put so much passion into it, keep these wonderful old handicrafts alive and actively ensure that they are passed on to younger generations. Many thanks for sharing. 🤝
I've made smaller batches for years, but now I'm tempted to get some fat wood together and take a small camping trip, lol. Thank you for your videos! They are a constant reminder of why I love the crafts.
I’m from NC also and have long been fascinated by the “naval stores” industry in NC. There’s evidently not a lot of info out there on it! The bulk of what I’ve learned about it is in a 2 volume book called “Railroading in the Carolina Sandhills” by S. David Carriker, and published in 1985 I believe. I would love to know if there is anywhere in the Tarheel State that one could go and learn more about this industry, or see things like this demonstrated! I do remember reading that there was always the danger of being killed by explosions from pockets of flammable gasses that could accumulate in unexpected places! A good thing to be aware of if actually re-enacting these processes!
Between 1648 to 1715 Norrländska Tjärkompaniet had monopoly in tar export also from Finland. All tar was labeled as "Stockholm Tar" when sold to export. Sorry about the radio, I get lonely sometimes ;)
How important is it that the catchment basin (that the barrel sits on top of) have a cool temperature? Also, what form does the pine tar start out as in the barrel when it separates from the wood, a vapor that condenses in the pipe, or is it a liquid that gathers on the catchment surface and then it drains through the hole and into the pipe? I figure if the tar exits the wood as a vapor, then keeping the catchment basin cool would be extremely important, no?
Tar runs out from the wood mostly in liquid form. Temperature inside the barrel shouldn´t though get too high to prevent the tar from burning. Vapor is mostly turpentine.
Wonderful bit of history. In all the years I've been practicing primitive technologies, I've never yet worked with Stockholm Tar. Does the 'tar piss' and 'grade b' have any uses or are they a waste product?
thanks for the great vid, i will try tar on my wooden pulley blocks (made of elm) as an ingredient of a boat soup recipe just found on the net (equal parts of lineseed oil, turpentine and tung oil + some added tar)
I made myself some Pine Tar and tried to tar a hemp rope. The rope is now extremly sticky. Is there something I did wrong? Is there a trick to get it less sticky? Do you have a Video about taring a rope? Thx and greetings Rocky.
Apply just the amount that fibers can hold. Too much tar remains on the surface and feels sticky. When tarring, the tar should be warmed up and if needed even diluted.
Great vid, and history aside from being interesting is also instrumental in fostering further investigation. Music is a bit melancholy which suits well I think.
@@mikkosnellman Thanks Mikko. In your opinion would it be possible to refine/purify the Grade B tar to premium by reheating? How about the tar piss, could you boil off the water and refine it to premium? Thanks from America. Great vid.
Onpa hieno dokumentti, Mikko! tuo vedellä jäähdytys hieman huolettaa... Jos ei ole tiivis, niin voi imaista ilmaa sisään. Olisiko hyvä ohjeistaa vain hidas itsestään jäähtyminen...?
What does your premium tar smell like? I recently purchased some Battles brand Stockholm tar in the UK but it has a nasty smell like creosote or burned wood, and it is very thick almost solid. Does all tar smell bad?
Thick, black and bad smelling tar is of low quality, usually from end of the burning or too high temperature. In worst case it is not pine tar at all. Good quality pine tar smells sweet and is light. Almost like motor oil.
@@ianm4 Myself, if I buy, it would be Claessons from Sweden but I understand that Auson should be good. Otherwise any brand of Hoof Tar are quite good.
@@mikkosnellman Brilliant, thanks. The tar that I recently purchased was actually a Hoof tar (Battles/Lincoln brand) but smells like creosote. I will try to buy Claessons through their online store. Is "Fine Tar Prime" (FINTJÄRA PRIMA DALBRÄND) the one to go for?
I made my own tar except with a jar in the ground with an airtight container with a hole in the bottom, above the jar and I got a very liquidy mixture even after it cooled off. I then cooked it down for a very long time and it's now extremely thick when cooled, would this thicker tar I got be a "high grade" tar? This was also the first video I seen that told me about water coming out first, thank you.
Actually the other way around. Good tar is the one that comes out in the middle of burning, being light in color and thin. Cooking tar further becomes eventually black, thick pitch.
@@mikkosnellman the tar I had before I cooked it wouldn't burn and would separate into two liquids. Is that normal or did I get water in my tar due to me only having one jar for collection?
@@mikkosnellman thank you. I'm surrounded by pine where I live and theres not much information on pine tar on the internet, just trying to learn as much as I can from people with firsthand experience. I have many questions but surprisingly, the internet doesnt know.
Tar piss, Grade B, Premium - could you please tell me how/what you use them for? I have a pile of wood and coconut that I can’t compost or make biogas/charcoal etc from, it’s that damn huge. Your process could help me clear up the pile a bit. Thank you for the lovely video and tribute to the originals though. 😊
@@ogi22 Absolutely, and that IS what I did, didn't I? 🙂 For example, would you consider fenugreek in your tea OR shampoo? Local uses are not always found easily Ogi... and THAT is based on years of experience. We sometime find our own expertise so boring, we don't necessarily document it.
Great video, and just a few questions: 1) Can this type of production technique be run in summertime weather, or do you need cooler air temperatures for condensing tar in first pipe? 2. Can a small venting chimney be installed on the top of the barrel, to vent off gases if there is no interest in making turpentine, etc? Isn't this what happens in the tar pits, all the gases vent through the top of the dale? Thanks for posting this, it's very interesting.
@@mikkosnellman Thank you. Just wondering, if there was no risk of backdraft and those gases vented through a hole on top of the barrel, would the amount of tar produced still be the same compared to a setup with no vent hole? Also, in the traditional dale pit burning process, do any gases and white smoke come out of the drainage pipe, or is it just tar, with all the gases/smoke escaping through the top of the dale?
@@waver1731 Yes, from a dale the gases escape through the top of the kiln since there is no pressure. In a barrel it is safest to ventilate through the draining pipe.
@@mikkosnellman I took a crack at making this today, but with a barrel about 1/3 the size of yours. Did not use vent holes and had 2nd pipe too. It worked! And I produced about half a liter of what I think is the premium grade tar. One strange thing happened though. After some water came out of first pipe, it was followed by some thick light brown goopy and pitchy sludge of some sort which was highly viscous. I didn't see any of that in your video. Any idea what this could be? Melted pine pitch maybe?
It is mostly used in medicine and for scent but also for impregnating wood. It will become black in sunlight. About tar piss: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SHj0hOh5yso.html
@@mikkosnellman So cool. Insane how much work is put it to make the tar. Still can't phantom the shear time it must have taken painting all those sails and boats and to modern day building all these roads and maintaining them all over the world. Mind blowing.
Thanks for this. Ran out yesterday and can't buy any more in lockdown. So, can radiata pine be used? Any part of the tree in particular? Is the watery stuff the kerosene? What is the middle jar and which pipe did it come out? Thanks
Any pine can be used but the best tar comes from Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) that is high in resin content. Usually roots or injured tree. It is the resin that makes a good tar. Water comes out in the beginning of burning, tar runs from the first pipe to jar and other chemicals, like turpentine and methanol comes from the second pipe, mixed with tar. Kerosene is distilled from oil.
@@mikkosnellman yes I've done loads of it with cedar, pine and birch, in fact just using standard pine is the way Ray mears teaches it and it gets results just fine
@@Ukraineaissance2014 Maybe it´s enough for a bushcrafter but in commercial scale the yield is much higher and better quality if you use fatwood from Baltic Pine (Pinus sylvestris) Even Ray Mears learned that ;) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lh2sTFGkhxQ.html
