Birch tar - first try & failure - 98% primitive

[november 2011]
Trying to make prehistoric birch tar / birch pitch... Advice needed !!

First experiment : trying to find how to make birch bark tar with very primitive technology : fire, cordage, wood, wood charcoal, birch bark, soil / mud, some clay, stone.

After applying heat for some 2 hours, I apparently got some tar (very very few), but it didn't gather in the container.

[Normally, it's a process of distillation, so the gas should also have gone in the container underneath and there it should have turned into tar ... or not ???]

Things to change in the next experiment :
- less time , less heat [or more ??].
- make a bit more neatly the clay enveloppe [while viewing the vid, I discovered that there was at least a hole in the clay enveloppe].
- make a small clay funnel to ensure that the tar will flow down [should not be necessary : the distillation creates a gas that should also go underneath and turn to tar].
- more heat at the basis of the clay enveloppe (and less on top ?).
- have the strips of birch bark stand upright so that the tar can glide down along the strips [? no tar but gas where there is heat ?].
- use more bark (maybe fresher ?).
- use wild cherry tree bark instead of birch bark ?

Things that seemed OK : the 3 layered enveloppe (clay, leaves, mud).

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• poix
• bouleau
• tar
• pitch
• abedul
• catrame
• pece
• betulla
• alquitran
• قطران
• זפת
• 乾留液
• Дёготь
• 焦油
• Берёста
• Туй

[steintanz]

... very interesting to watch, but sorry, no advice I could give you. Wish you the best for the next try!

[freejutube]

@steintanz

thank you,

[kitsurubami]

i don't know much about the subject, and i have not read the other comments because i'm lazy, but here are the two alterations i can think of that may be worth trying. By balling the birch bark, it appeared to create a diaper of sorts holding all the pitch within. Try rolling it in a cylindrical shape with the top facing up. A very small amount of water might assist the pitch to flow, it could be too viscous.

[freejutube]

@kitsurubami

Thanks,

I'm OK with you : need to change the disposition of the bark (I made a ball to ease the creation of the clay enveloppe; bad idea). About adding water, I don't know, maybe (in my experiment the bark was still wet, as was the clay).

[freejutube]

@luth47

Ah !

Pour ridiculiser la pub, j'ai une idée ! Faire une chaîne spéciale, y placer des vidéos écoeurantes, la pub s'afficherait quand même sur ces vidéos ==> ajouter un commentaire moqueur dans une infobulle pointant sur l'annonce. L'annonceur s'auto-ridiculiserait (très localement) en afiichant ses pubs dans des environnements désobligeants, hostiles. On appelerait des vidéos "hostiles" (comme ce monde est focalisé sur la pub, il serait inutile de préciser hostile à quoi).

[luth47]

@freejutube

Aucun problème, c’est pour éviter le spam que youtube empêche l'affichage de liens alors.

S'ils pouvaient faire de même avec la pub... :)

[freejutube]

@luth47

(votre commentaire a été flaggé comme spam apparemment ?? si c'est moi je n'ai pas fait exprès, désolé).

Merci, je vais aller voir les liens que vous m'indiquez.

Pour ce qui est des gros feux, j'aimerais bien, mais il faut d'abord trouver par ici un endroit où ce serait autorisé ... :-) ...

[luth47]

Le système est ingénieux, j'ai apprécié la vidéo.

d'après ce que j'ai pu lire il semble qu'il faille un gros feu et qu'il reste de l'écorce calcinée en fin d'opération. On conseille également de se servir de l'écorce externe qui se détache facilement de l'interne.

Source Webarcherie "brai-de-bouleau"

il me semble que le réceptacle doit également rester assez froid.

voir sur ginellames.fr dans la partie vidéo "fabrication des couteaux" (3ème vidéo)

[wanderinggibbon]

@freejutube I really like your videos, it's my pleasure to watch. I will try a private message some other time, as I'm going offline now. I only suggest a private message, because it would take more than the comment box can handle to describe ... hehehe ... There should be charred bark left (like charcoal) and in your video, it looks like it's wet with oil, so I would think more heat, and more time. Again, great video this one, well done.