Uses of native saps and gums?

[WoldenGattle]

G'day all! I'm in the pemberton area of WA, wondering if anyone has any knowledge for uses of local saps etc? I'm keen to try steaming and collecting my own eucalyptus oil, and I've failed to extract pine pitch from some pines we have (I made charcoal instead, whoops!) I've heard that local red gum saps used to be used for tanning animal skins, but I have no idea on the details of use.

Edit - I don't mean medicinal or psycoactive properties at all, but practical applications such as sealants or gums, waterproofing or uses in tanning etc. Random things like that!

Edited November 22, 2015 by WoldenGattle

[Conv3rgence]

Hi,

You are from my favourite place in WA. Pemberton is beautiful and the air is so pure deep within those karri trees. Good luck to you finding information on using local/native plants. Here is a link to a specialist in these areas, I have no experience with him, but he comes highly recommended by some friends.

http://www.theherbalist.com.au

He is based down south, shouldn't be to far from you, and you could try emailing some questions.

[waterboy 2.0]

might find some specific species in this:

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=qc9UAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=australian+use+of+gums+and+kino&source=bl&ots=zXDKsJWyCc&sig=dNNvC9V6JuAD7v8oGr-UY8kg2cE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMIk-e5yOSEyQIVphqmCh3mOQNw#v=onepage&q=australian%20use%20of%20gums%20and%20kino&f=false

[ghosty]

I think you will find oils from such plants will be illegal to posses. are you talking of using them as a post-tanning treatment? I use acacia madenii or longifolia for tanning. sometimes with some "snow in summer" tree leaves too. I'm yet to decide on the exact mixture i will call my own tanning blend =) there appears to be a difference in tanning thicker hides such as ring-tails compared to thin skin animals like brush-tails. this is an interesting area. I doubt i will bother with brushys anymore. the ringers though, hmmm NICE, thick tough and beautiful hides. All road-kills of course!

I have not ever heard of using steamed out oils of gum trees for tanning purposes.

[watertrade]

I collect sap from this tree.

it looks like this - lovely and red.

I dissolve it in ethanol and it looks like this

I can use it for all kind of things including adding insects to it drying it out and pretending it is amber. ;)

[Sallubrious]

What does the faux amber feel like after the alcohol has evaporated ?

Is it tacky/sticky or like glass ?

I'm planning on turning a tobacco pipe on my lathe and an amber stem would be the ducks nuts.

[watertrade]

it takes a while to go rock hard and there is a trick to doing it to get a glass clear finish. if you dry it too quick it goes cloudy, too slow and the centre stays soft.

I think slower is better maybe with drying in the sun later. I can report back when I have it figured out. while collecting it apart from the funny looks, people love to tell me about all the other uses they have for it. Its good for sealing your bark canoe ;)

[watertrade]

turning it on a lathe I think would be hard. its very brittle and shatters very easily - if you were to go slow with good tooling it might be ok.

[Sallubrious]

You're probably right about it shattering when being machined, I was thinking more along the lines of casting it and finishing it with sandpaper.

Maybe it wouldn't be very durable as a stem but it could certainly be used for insets to add a bit of interest.

Thanks mate, you've given me a few ideas.

[Pat Uri]

P'sDog here - Yeah mobs your way gathered up a Grevilla resin off the flowering buds. Formed it up over heat. It sticks to the skin and burns it in a way that makes nice proud flesh scarring in a controlled manner. This scarring was very pleasing and attractive on black skin - both men and women's business.

Will ask the old boy exactly which tribes and the particular species. Important to him because this resin has an unusual long chain alkyl resorcinol - think its called - that can be used like olivetol precursor for certain things...shall say! I'm not the chemist, just the big mouth. This particular alkyl resorcinol only found in Australia.

Ok and bye from Phaemon'sDog.

PS - thanks SAB mods this forum has the best ever spellcheck dictionary for writing up plants and chemistry.

[WoldenGattle]

I think you will find oils from such plants will be illegal to posses. are you talking of using them as a post-tanning treatment? I use acacia madenii or longifolia for tanning. sometimes with some "snow in summer" tree leaves too. I'm yet to decide on the exact mixture i will call my own tanning blend =) there appears to be a difference in tanning thicker hides such as ring-tails compared to thin skin animals like brush-tails. this is an interesting area. I doubt i will bother with brushys anymore. the ringers though, hmmm NICE, thick tough and beautiful hides. All road-kills of course!

I have not ever heard of using steamed out oils of gum trees for tanning purposes.

This is awesome, this is exactly what I would love to do. I've never skinned even a rabbit, (bloody city boy, son of a farmers son, old man has just retired to the old family block down Pemby) but I'm keen to have a crack if ever I come across a fresh carcass with nice skin.

Could you extrapolate on the tanning process more for me?

[tarenna]

I collect sap from this tree.

20151112_114251.jpg

yellow box??