FeatherSticks · Skills
Pine Pitch Glue: How to Make Pine Resin Glue and a Pitch Stick
Tree resin plus campfire charcoal: the oldest glue there is.
Quick facts
- Time
- 30–60 min plus collecting
- Difficulty
- Medium (hot, flammable material)
- Best for
- Hafting, sealing seams, small repairs
- You need
- Old resin, charcoal, small can, pot, embers
What you need
- Small steel can with a wire handle (dedicated pitch pot)
- Pot for the water bath and a lid or flat stone
- Wooden spatula and stirring twigs
- Two stones and a cloth for crushing charcoal
- Peeled sticks of about 20–30 cm for pitch sticks
- A little beeswax (optional)
- Oil or fat for cleaning hands
- First aid kit and clean water for cooling burns
Step by step
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1 Find old resin runs
Look for hardened resin on existing wounds of spruce or pine. Never cut a tree to make it bleed, and take only a little.
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2 Clean the resin
Pick out bark, needles and insects, then break the resin into small pieces so it melts evenly.
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3 Melt it gently
Put the resin in a small can, stand the can in a pot of water on embers and keep a lid at hand. No open flame.
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4 Stir in crushed charcoal
Add finely crushed charcoal, about one part to four parts resin by volume, plus a little beeswax if you like.
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5 Make a pitch stick
Dip the end of a stick, lift it, let the layer set, dip again. Repeat until the blob is about thumb-thick.
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6 Warm, apply, let it cool
Warm the tip near embers until soft, dab it onto the joint, press the parts together and let them cool.
Common mistakes
- Cutting or scoring living bark to make a tree bleed.
- Scraping a wound clean, including the layer that seals it.
- Heating the can in open flames or leaving it unattended.
- Pouring water into burning resin instead of putting the lid on.
- Using coarse charcoal grit or briquettes instead of fine, pure charcoal.
- Pressing hot pitch into shape with bare fingers.
- Trusting pitch alone to hold an axe head or a knife handle.