How to Make Glue From Sap

Glue made from sap is called "pitch glue." American Indians used pitch glue that they made from materials available in nature, to make tools and waterproof items. Pitch glue differs from conventional glue that is available in stores today. It has a tar like consistency and molds like putty. The glue must be melted before use if a liquid consistency is desired. Different tribes had their own recipes for making pitch glue, where they added ingredients to make the glue more fibrous.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Sap
• Knife
• Wood
• Fire safe cooking pot with lid
• Long metal stirring utensil

Make Charcoal

1. Cut the wood into small pieces, no bigger than 4-by-4 inches. Cut enough pieces to fill a cooking pot.

2. Fill a fire pit safe cooking pot with the small pieces of wood. Pack the wood in the pot as tightly as possible.

3. Build a fire in a fire pit.

4. Place the cooking pot filled with wood on top of the fire. Put a lid on top of the pot.

5. Leave the cooking pot on top of the fire until the fire burns out.

6. Wait 12 to 24 hours for the cooking pot to cool off before opening it to remove the wood pieces.

7. Remove the lid from the cooking pot and pour out the blackened (charcoal) wood pieces.

Making the Glue

1. Collect dried sap from pine trees. When pine trees are injured, sap slowly drips out and dries on the trees' surface. Look for the thick light brown sap on the outside of the trunks of the trees. Carefully scrape the dried sap off the tree using a knife.

2. Grind up the charcoal into a fine powder using a rock.

3. Melt the sap in a fire safe cooking pot over a fire. Wait to put the sap into the pot until the flames are low to prevent the flames from touching the sap and possibly igniting it. The sap takes five to ten minutes to melt.

4. Pour ground charcoal into the melted sap. Use an equal ratio of ground charcoal and sap.

5. Stir the ground charcoal and sap with a long metal stirring utensil until it is thoroughly combined and remove it from the fire. The glue will harden to a putty like consistency when it cools off. Heat it over a fire before use if you want it to be thinner.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want, you can experiment with this recipe by adding ground up dried leaves from various plants to the mixture.

• Sap is highly flammable. Be cautious to prevent fire flames and fumes from touching the sap. Maintain a safe distance from sap that is melting over a fire.

References

• Survival Skills of Native California; Paul Douglas Campbell; 2004
• Primitive Technology; David Wescott, Society of Primitive Technology; 1999