[pete1gun]

well if the root system dies then it will not be able to send the resin up to gather in the stump , but you can keep in mind that the roots should have plenty of resin in them as well.

[Ron Fontaine]

Originally Posted by pete1gun

RON I have some good fatwood I have some good size chunks of it that I have stored away in a burlap sack and I've got some that I turned into saw dust ,in the saw dust form it takes a spark just like dryer lint would but it burns so much longer, and you only need a descent size pinch to get a fire going. I also have stored some in some Reynolds vacuum bags, to keep it from getting dried out, and I keep a little pellet tin on me always, with some in it. Attachment 1009

Attachment 1010

Attachment 1011

Attachment 1012 and the tin can also function as a signal mirror if needed. and I have found a little trick as well to help keep it from drying out you can add just a little bit of lamp oil to it and it will stay nice and moist, as well as keep that great smell. and since it's lamp oil it only adds to it's ability to take a spark. but the stuff that I have in the vacuum bag is all natural with no oil added to it. the vacuum seal keeps it well preserved.

Very interesting, going to have to play around with your ideas!

[Tangalor]

I went to a local gunstore today, and they had some for pretty cheap. I looked at it, and it looked like what Ron said was "Cheap Stuff", so I didn't bother. I might order some, if you ever get it in. Keep us posted :P

[AlteredMentalStatus]

new scrapers dont have the teeth on them....

[tjwilhelm]

Yup...no teeth, BUT they work GREAT.

Did you see the demo I did under the Bow Drill thread? At exactly 4 mintutes and 15 seconds into "chapter one" (just fast-forward to 4:15) I used Ron's new scraper to throw sparks at the camera: Made a Bow Drill

The new strikers work much better than the originals!

[Tangalor]

Indeed! Mac was gracious enough to let me try out his new bunkerbuster firesteel tube with the new striker, and I was really impressed! I'm totally getting one of those :P

[daynat]

I have a plentiful supply of Fatwood here in Northwest Florida. Roots dug streight from the ground. Some of the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen. PM me if you are still interested.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

You do realize that the Truly High Grade Fat Lighter (Fatwood) is almost gone don't you? Back in the day when they actually had "Naval Stores" (Nothing to do with the Navy whatsoever) was when most of the True Fat lighter was produced. The Naval Stores was where they would take the pine sap they had harvested and ship it off to be processed, into Turpentine,Rosin and other things from the pine sap. To harvest it they would make "Cat Faces" (scars in the wood like an inverted chevron), under these they would place rectangular tin cups(or even older versions round clay pots) to catch the sap. They would go around and "Dip Turpentine" (meaning collect the sap from the cups). Because of these collections it would cause the sap to build up in the wood as the tree was being forced to constantly produce more. This type of tree always had more Fat lighter than the other pines and was a higher grade than the other trees even of the same species. Alas with the modern era this was an industry that died off,as the same products could be produced synthetically. With the death of the industry, so did the really high grade,easy to find stuff went away as well. True it can still be found but not nearly the quantity, nor quality as was available in the '60's and even into the '70's. Still there is some naturally occurring Fat lighter(fat wood) out there, but not quite the same stuff as then.
Sorry about my little "history lesson", But my Mom used to do it when she was a lot younger,(not long after the depression)and this is a bit of history she passed on to me. One of her first "Real Jobs" was dipping Turpentine.

[George]

Suppose not bad Fatwood imitation would be pieces of weathered pine dipped in pine resin and heated up so resin turns to liquid and is absorbed to porous timber.

Not sure if resin has to be mixed with little bit of thinner or just temperature will do.
Since I collected some pine resin pieces, and I have a piece of porous timber might play with it.

Did anybody play with solid pine resin to make it liquid?
Little bit of info might help me a lot.

[crashdive123]

Originally Posted by George

Suppose not bad Fatwood imitation would be pieces of weathered pine dipped in pine resin and heated up so resin turns to liquid and is absorbed to porous timber.

Not sure if resin has to be mixed with little bit of thinner or just temperature will do.
Since I collected some pine resin pieces, and I have a piece of porous timber might play with it.

Did anybody play with solid pine resin to make it liquid?
Little bit of info might help me a lot.

Yes - I've heated small pieces of pine resin to liquify them and use it as a glue to seal and strengthen a cordage wrap. I used a small metal cup and an oil burning candle to melt it.