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Red gum extraction?


anthropoid

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I was just wondering - could i extract red gum from "River red gum" (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), and if I can - how is it done?

Because as far as I know this is the type of tree from which red gum is extracted (please correct me if I'm wrong..), and I have a whole forest filled with those trees near my house.

 

I'm asking this because I've already tried plundering one of those trees without any results..I tried cutting, beating and damaging one of those poor trees in every possible way I could imagine and he still wasn't willing to exude any sap/resin (wasn't sure how it's called in English).. O_o

Was I doing anything wrong? is it done in some other way?

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"Red Gum" is from the Accaroides Family (Genus?) of the Gum tree found in Oz, IIRC. Not sure if that's a related tree. If it is, it should make a good substitute if it's got the aromatics that most Gums do.

 

But I'd like to know the definitive answer, though. Sounds like one of those "exotics" to me, and I think they're interesting.

 

M

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Yes I think red gum is also called acrroides resin, but that sounds very strange because I'm sure i've read in a couple of places that it is extracted from a tree of the Eucalyptus family :unsure:

 

Anyway, I'll try using the resin I was planing to use anyway even if it's not actually red gum when I'll manage to get it out of that damn tree - I want to see if it's soluble in ethanol/aceton and can be used as a binder. Anyone maybe knows how to make the tree exude the resin? trying to do this in the "conventional" ways was kind of frustrating so far :P

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I have also read that Red gum comes from a Eucalyptus but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it comes from the river red gum as most Eucalyptuses I’ve come across have red sap so it could come from any Eucalyptus tree. :unsure:
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Whoever wants to get a Gum tree to "bleed", try making cuts on the bark just like they do with a rubber tree. Deep enough to go through the bark layer, but not so deep that you cut the cambrian (I think that's what it's called) layer under it. The sap should flow and dry out. It will look sort of like dried Pine resin. Crumble this off the tree and dry thoroughly, then grind.

 

Now I wonder if Pine resin, prepared the same way, can be used like Red Gum. Someday maybe I'll find out. ;)

 

M

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Pine resin is soluble in acetone. But I didn't got enough of it to try it as a binder. only enough to try different solvents.
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Pine tar sticks anyone? They should be sold at any large sporting goods store around this year. They are used to give more grip to wooden baseball bats.
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Whoever wants to get a Gum tree to "bleed", try making cuts on the bark just like they do with a rubber tree. Deep enough to go through the bark layer, but not so deep that you cut the cambrian (I think that's what it's called) layer under it. The sap should flow and dry out. It will look sort of like dried Pine resin. Crumble this off the tree and dry thoroughly, then grind.

 

Now I wonder if Pine resin, prepared the same way, can be used like Red Gum. Someday maybe I'll find out. ;)

 

M

As was already mentioned here, red gum does not come from the "Red Gum" tree, or river eucalyptus. It comes from a plant called Xanthorrhoea or BlackBoy, found on a single island off Australia.

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Pine tar sticks anyone? They should be sold at any large sporting goods store around this year. They are used to give more grip to wooden baseball bats.

Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Are those sticks "pure" Pine resin, or do they have a lot of trash in them?

 

I can't imagine it would be easy to grind them down into powder, either. That crap is SO sticky....

 

 

Oh, and genuine Turpentine will also dissolve Pine Resin. (Mineral Spirits probably will NOT work). Didn't know Acetone would do it. Learn something new every day...

 

M

 

P.S. Frozentech: I thought they were now cultivating those trees on mainland Oz, a result of the worldwide shortage of Red Gum some years ago.

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Pine tar sticks anyone?  They should be sold at any large sporting goods store around this year.  They are used to give more grip to wooden baseball bats.

Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Are those sticks "pure" Pine resin, or do they have a lot of trash in them?

 

I can't imagine it would be easy to grind them down into powder, either. That crap is SO sticky....

 

 

Oh, and genuine Turpentine will also dissolve Pine Resin. (Mineral Spirits probably will NOT work). Didn't know Acetone would do it. Learn something new every day...

 

M

 

P.S. Frozentech: I thought they were now cultivating those trees on mainland Oz, a result of the worldwide shortage of Red Gum some years ago.

They also sell bags with powdered rosin in them for gymnastics, should be a direct replacement for colophony resin in older comps.

 

Perhaps they are cultivating the Xanthorrhoea on mainland OZ now, but there is still a single company in the entire world that harvests and sells it. MephistosMinion can give you more details, he has been in touch with them. They prefer to sell in 20 ton lots, but he had a possible deal for a 25Kg 'sample' ?

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There are very few natural alternatives to Red Gum when comparing its clean and fast burning with most oxidizers. Most natural resins and rosins burns much slower and also produces more soot and slag. In my opinion, shellac is the best candidate but it is a pain to powder without a ball mill.

 

The best substitutes for Red Gum are synthetic phenolic resin powders that come in many varieties and brands. My old favourite is no longer produced (Peracit 8582G from Perstorp Chemitec in France) but I'm sure that some Googling will give you something similar. It is important to use products without fillers and additives that contain sodium and calcium. Usually the resin is mixed with some hexamine and/or urea but this is no problem for our application.

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  • 2 years later...

Hello!

 

Sorry for of-topic, but i cent start a new topic

 

I am lookink for Peracit 8125G from Perstorp. I think that it is urea-formalfdehid powder..... I cant find this anywhere...........

 

thank you 100000000000X

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