print page - PINE TAR OIL (WOOD TAR OIL)

Pine tar is a vegetable liquid obtained from the wood of various trees of the family Pinaceac by destructive distillation. Pine Tar is known since ancient history for its capacity as a water repellent vapour barrier on wood and rope and for its gentle antiseptic effect. It has an empyreumatic odor and sharp taste. The chief constituents are volatile terpene oils, neutral oils of high boiling point and high solvency, resin and fatty acids. The proportion of these vary in the different grades of tar, also according to tree species and the part of the tree used, type of carbonization oven ect.

Pine Tar obtained as a byproduct through destructive distillation of pine wood in the manufacture of charcoal. Thinned with turpentine to a standard viscosity. Since it contains much of the ingredients which protect the living tree. However, stumps are hard to find and expensive, so ordinary pine wood is mostly used nowadays. Pine Tar mainly been used in the softening solvent in rubber industry, construction material and special paints. We recommends pine tar as surface treatment of wooden church roofs and other cultural buildings made of wood. There are examples of stave churches that have been preserved with pine tar for nearly a thousand years with very few intervals of maintenance