Cutler's pitch recipe

J

JoeyNumbers

Joined
Apr 24, 2007
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26
Hello

I'm trying to get into customizing my own knives. I want to eventually hammer forge my own steel but right now I'm just going to haft blanks into crafted handles. I'd like to make my own cutler's resin to add a more personal touch. I came across a recipe for some resin, and I have a few questions.

The recipe calls for:
5 parts pine pitch
1 part beeswax (tallow can replace this-available from your butcher)
1 part filler (wood dust, ash, metal dust, etc)

So my questions are
A) Is this a mixture by volume or weight?
B) Does anyone have any experience with this mixture/something similar?
C) Do you know anything better I can make?

Thank you for reading
 
Last edited:
The mixture would be by volume, I imagine.
Anything better? Yes, mix part "A" and part "B" epoxy.
Seriously, cutler's resin is sticky stuff-and I admire you for wanting to use it, but epoxy works pretty well without all the hassle.
 
So my questions are
A) Is this a mixture by volume or weight?
B) Does anyone have any experience with this mixture/something similar?
C) Do you know anything better I can make?
Click to expand...

A) By volume
B) I have used cutler's resin extensively on my period knives for over 40 years - it works good and FWIW - many old pieces (read hundreds of years old and older) have held up very well. I find it quite easy to use, but like anything else there is a learning curve - it's applied hot in the melted stage. If it's sticky then it may not have been made right - dry it should be hard and non-sticky but not brittle. Different rosins have an effect on the ned product and personally I'd not use rosin only beeswax.
C) "Better" - is perhaps a quantitative decision - is epoxy better? - maybe - depends on the type and how used, plus it's only been used for less than a 100 years so who can say long term....easier? again probably, but that all depends on your "vision" of the type end product desired - on period pieces it's a selling point and can/will increase the price those buyers interested in such things - on modern pieces it's probably a point against at worst at best a curiosity.........
 
By "sticky" I meant strong.
Wild Rose- your comment about not using rosin, only beeswax, was a mistake, right?
 
Thanks for the clarification Bill and yeah I meant tallow not rosin - tallow IMO makes the mix stay too soft.....
 
I read where brick dust was used a lot by the Sheffield industry for filler in the mixture.
Your thoughts?
 
Ed - yep brick dust and charcoal were two of the mainstays used by the "big 'boys" as a filler.
Brick dust was also used as a polishing compound -- both for hand polishing and leather belt/wheel polishing.......

the book "Circle of Mechanical Arts" written in 1813 has a chapter on cutlery making (starts on page 260 in the online version - page 319 in the PDF) that is very interesting.......it's available in PDF for downloading
http://books.google.com/books?id=6_...E+OF+THE+MECHANICAL+ARTS#v=onepage&q=&f=false

When discussing making table knifes it states the handle was attached with cutler's resin and brick....
 
Hey fellas,

This knife making adventure is just a never ending journey of discovery and diversity. Pitch, beeswax and dirt instead of epoxy...or more appropriately, before epoxy. I love it!

My boy and I enjoy hunting and collect pine pitch on our walks in a 40 acre park up the hill from us. I've got to say, gathering it is a lot easier than rendering it. Although, I've only mixed it 50 50 with beeswax to treat linen thread with.

Thanks for sharing yet more of the ongoing saga of the world of knives!!!

All the best, Phil
 
Hey everyone, thanks for the inputs and advice. I found a bunch of pine resin in a tree up the street from my house.

Dear Farmer Phil and Wild Rose

If you don't mind my asking for your secrets what sort of procedure did you use to make your resins? I'm planning to first boil the resin in water to remove all the sticky aromatics thus making pitch, then using a double boiler mix the ingredients together. Did you encounter any problems that I can avoid? Tips or advice on application? Thanks very much again.
 
Wild Rose:
That is one beautiful reference, the information is food for thought and could be debated for years!! I love it, many thanks!
Ed
 
What Chuck said.

To clarify, it's rosin not pitch.

Wood rosin is a hard dry substance, not soft and sticky like pitch. Rosin can be made from pitch by simmering it at as low a temperature as possible for about 10 minutes and allowing it to cool.

Not all rosin is the same, some work well, others not so good and others not at all.

I've had good luck with pinon rosin. A number of aromatic rosins are commercially available as incense, including pinon. Rosin is also available as violin bow rosin, but that gets expensive.
 
Tai Goo said:
What Chuck said.

To clarify, it's rosin not pitch.

Wood rosin is a hard dry substance, not soft and sticky like pitch. Rosin can be made from pitch by simmering it at as low a temperature as possible for about 10 minutes and allowing it to cool.
Click to expand...

AHH! Its THE Tai Goo! I bought "Primitive Knifemaking" of The Woodsmaster series and highly enjoyed your section. Its the reason I'm starting blade smithing. Can I have your autograph? Haha.

I thought those two were reversed. Pitch is the hard substance made from resin and resin comes from the pine tree (the sap?). I must be misinformed.
 
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