Pine pitch varnish

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

This morning i tried making Pine pitch varnish, with bio ethanol and pine pitch i luckly did find, It was kind of brittle and i Read that's no good for the glue so i dividend to go for the varnish, i crushrd It verry good untill like It was everything between dust and cookie crumbles and put the ethanol by It and shaked. 

Not sure if this is the right collour that It should be?

[Pat B]

Let it sit for a while and see if the impurities will settle to the bottom. The pitch varnish will be the color of the pitch, generally an amber color.
...and actually hard, brittle pitch is good for pitch glue. If it's gooey and sticky your glue will be also attracting all sorts of debris.

[burchett.donald]

  Great job, pitch varnish is a wonderful primitive sealer...I use it over sinew backs and wraps and it lasts forever...Some will tell you it cracks but haven't found that to be the case...The alcohol helps it penetrate...
                                                                                                                                     Don

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

I Read some add linseed oil, i think it help to keep er flexibel, ik add that if its cracking

[Pat B]

Adding an oil will make it actually pitch varnish. Dissolving hard pitch in a solvent isn't really a varnish. The end results is a thin coat of pure pitch. I've called it pitch varnish because I use it as a varnish, to seal sinew wraps on arrows, etc. In the application I use it for it doesn't really flex or at least not much. If it does crack a quick heating will melt it and close up the cracks.
 I've not used it to seal a bow but I think if I did I'd add a touch of oil to make it more flexible.

[wstanley]

I like the color of that. What is the ratio of ethanol to pitch that you guys are using?

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Would sunflower oil work too?  That's al i have  now.

The ratio was unknown for me too so i Just  poored s little bit in, shaked, lot of flakes, put
More ethanol, shake, little flakes, the rest probably slowly disolve.😂
 I guess i ended up with one part of resin, 2 parts of ethanol, volume wise, not weighted
, Tomorrow il try It on an Arrow and see what It Do, il also make A sample with sunflower oil ., If i het the bottle open, It sticked itself x
Close

[Pat B]

Ricardo, do a test with a small amount of the pitch varnish and the sunflower oil. I think it will work but not much oil at first.
I don't know how important a ratio is. I usually cover the pitch with alcohol. If the solution gets saturated just add a bit more alcohol. The alcohol is only the carrier for the pitch. It flashes off and leaves a thin layer of pitch so just enough alcohol to dissolve the pitch. I usually pour the mixture through an old T shirt to filter out most of the impurities.