heat treating sealant questions

[Mad Max]

I heat treated doing Marc StLouis  way and I sealed with shellac the whole bow
Ash-- I had in the house (2 months)  until it was dry,I did not want moisture getting back in.

[Marc St Louis]

That's a lot of reflex.  You have to be very careful when adding that much reflex with dry-heat the reason being that you can get tension cracks across the belly.  The reflex has to be very uniform and not centered too much in any one spot.  Also you cannot add more when the wood is hot or the risk of a tension failure becomes extremely high.  You seem to have done a pretty good job with yours.

[ohiocountryboy]

thank you very much. I was worried it might be to much reflex would it be a good idea to give it a good sinew backing?

[zenart]

Debatable Ron. 

Turpentine can actually be a distillation from several different species, the Balsam Fir being one of them.  White Spruce is not on the list   Wood alcohol has about as long a history of use, perhaps even longer, than turpentine.

Marc, yes I agree, it appears as if I misspoke. Balsam is more related to Pine in particular.

I'm guessing the species you are acquiring your resin from is Picea glauca. As I understand it, Spruces are pretty much all conifers and as such related to Pine.  I am now looking into a connection for Spruce to Pine as far as Pyrolysis (destructive distillation, which is the theme of our discussion).

I just checked the earliest known use of turpentine itself, 1759. Wood alcohol? Ancient Egyptians used methanol in embalming so yes, that goes pretty far back.

In any case, the point I was attempting to make is that primitives distilling -any- resin to a more refined 'turpentine like' substance is really not so far removed IMO. Apparently all that is needed is steam or heat. Perhaps it's a romantic viewpoint but I am inclined to give our distant brothers from the past the benefit of the doubt. They were quite resourceful and will we ever know, however rudimentary, the extent of their alchemy awareness?  .Ron