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How to Render Pine Sap

Pine sap has many uses. It is used to make nutritional supplements, fragrances, resin for violin bows and can be rendered to make pine resin. Collecting and rendering pine sap to make resin, pitch or tar is generally a simple process. In fact, even children can help to spot and gather pine sap with appropriate parental supervision. It is an inexpensive process that requires only a few tools and supplies.

Things You'll Need

Hiking clothes
Knife
Bucket
Fire or stove
Charcoal
Tin container
Mortar and pestle

Instructions

- 1
  Dress for hiking in the woods. Put on long, thick pants such as jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt to protect your skin from insects and thorns.
- 2
  Walk through the woods and examine pine trees for sap. The sap will be clear or white and will have oozed out of the bark of the tree where the tree has been disturbed or damaged. If you are collecting pine with your family, consider making a game out of spotting the pine sap on the tree bark.
- 3
  Wiggle the tip of your knife underneath the sap and move it about until the sap loosens and falls from the tree. Collect the sap in a bucket and, when you have enough sap to make the desired amount of resin, light a fire or turn on your stove.
- 4
  Put the pine into a tin container and cover it, then place the container over heat such as the flame or burner. Set aside charcoal, about one part coal to three parts pine. Crush the coal into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.
- 5
  When the pine melts, add the charcoal powder and stir quickly. If the sap cools before you add the powder, it will harden and you will have to reheat it to add the powder. Once the powder is added, either use the resin or let it cool. Reheat the resin whenever you would like to use it.

Nature