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Saxonia Issue 01 Part 024
Black gold
By Rumrunner/VOID
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, black gold is really worth solid gold. I'm not thinking of oil, as
you might thing now. I'm thinking of another kind of black gold, known
hundreds of years before oil got any special value. This product kept
peoples wooden houses up for as long as they wanted the house. It preserved
their wooden boats. Later, it prevented rust from eating up iron in ladders,
bars, and whatever you could think of in, for example steamboats.
It's tar I'm thinking of. Tar is probably one of the oldest products people
ever used, and I consider it to be of great importance in our days as well.
A little introduction to tar might be in place for someone, so let's go.
Tar is most often made from a special kind of pine trees. It's the kind
we here in Norway call Tyri. Tyri is simply a pine-tree with lots and
lots of juice in it. It's fat enough that it will ignite with very little
effort. That's why it is so popular among everyone who likes to stay out
in the forests. It's easy to get a fire going with it.
The old way to make tar from wood was to put all the wood in a slope.
Then, you start the fire, and when it's going good enough, you put a layer
of dirt on top of it. That way, the fire is going very little, and the
tar runs out in the bottom of the slope. Tar made this way is still the
best you can get, but it's hard to come across if you can't burn it
yourself. This is because it's the hard way to make it. If you want the
absolutely best (that is, tar made this way),you should try to contact
a wooden boat builder, museums who takes care of old wooden objects,
such as boats, buildings and so on, or maybe someone living in areas
where they take care of old traditions might help you.
If you don't have to have the absolutely best, you can make do with tar
made the "new" way (new for some hundred years back..). This is still a
good product, and it's easy to get hold of. Shops selling tools and paint
(housepaint) should have it, at least they have it here in Norway.
This tar is made in owens. The rest of the process (getting the fire going
and then giving the fire less air), is the same.
So, when you have got your tar, what can you use it for? A lot!
Houses (wooden houses, most houses are wooden houses here in Norway)
will keep very vell if you select tar instead of paint. The tar takes
care of the wood. It will keep it for as long as you want. For example
we have churches made of wood that is from the 1100's. Most materials are
still from that time. And for people like me (believe it or not, there
are some) a "laftehus", a house built of real timber logs, it's
magnificent when it's tarred, and it's only nicer than average when
it's painted.
Of course wooden boats also benefits from tar. It wil not just keep the
boat, but it will also prevent "pælemark" from destroying it. Pælemark
is Norwegian for a kind of worm or termite found in saltwater.
I have also heard that the regular paint used below the water line
on boats will be banned (or already is banned) some places. Denmark,
for instance. This will make tar even more attractive.
Norway is a country which usually gets much snow during winters, and
so, people like to go skiing. For those who still stick to wooden skies
(and why shouldn't they) it's nice to know that tar will do the job
instead of the regular skiing wax. It will not slide easily across the
snow the first while after you have applied it, but then it will become
very smooth, and the skies will slide across the snow in a beautiful way.
So, now I hope I have given you some clues that you do not always have
to resort to thinner smelling chemicals for every purpose.
I would also like to hear about building customs in other countries,
so if anyone is interested in this, please write an article.
