MELTING YOUR OWN ROSIN

[ClassicalDB]

Hi everyone. I recently bought different types of rosin that I would like to melt together. What care should I take in melting them? Do I just throw them all in a pot and wait for them to melt? What do I do?

[G-force]

First of all why do it at all?
OK once you are past that then you can put all of the rosins without wrappers or foil in seperate plastic bags in the freezer.
Wait a day then pulverize the rosins in a brown paper bag to ass much a powder as you can.
Then take your new rosin cups whaterever they are and start to distribute the powdered rosin in to the cups.

o now melt the rosin you must not put them directly in t a pot. I would put the cups of powder rosin in a double boiling pot or if the cups can take the water put them in a non stick pan in a watr bath . bring the water to a light boil and make sure there is not too much water so when it boils it doesn't get in the cups of rosin. This will melt the rosin quickly but not too quickly.
I have done this several times to varying results.
I have a suspicion that melting the rosin again changes the stickyness .

Good luck and hope you are wearing an apron..

[Farin]

Whats the point of melting rosin? I don't get it.

[Andy Allen]

Originally Posted by Farin

Whats the point of melting rosin? I don't get it.

For fun?

Well, people brew their own beer even though it's easier to go to the liquor store and choose from an array of different beers. Just don't drink your rosin and pour beer over your bow-hair

[Dr Rod]

The late Homer Mensch used to mix this great rosin, I guess he saw a point in doing it.

I think it would be interesting to know what the basic components are and then you could mix your own rosin to your own specs and taste. The beer brewing analogy makes sense.

Does anyone know what the basic components of rosin are? I know that sap from certain trees is the dominant ingredient, some rosins like Libenzeller have metals in it, I have heard of some having wax but I am not sure.

[reedo35]

Originally Posted by G-force

I have a suspicion that melting the rosin again changes the stickyness .

Good luck and hope you are wearing an apron..

That's because it burns away the oils and waxes in the original mixture. I can understand doing it as a "fun" experiment, but would not expect stellar results... (and yes, G-force, hot rosin burns like napalm... )
For Dr. Rod: here are some rosin basics:http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issue...ml#rosinphotos

[Charlie Nilles]

Kind of the topic of brewing beer and rosin:
I made a batch of half pops, and half kolstien soft. The stuff is easy to make because both rosins are very soft. The sound is warm and full, and the attack is crisp and clean. This is perfect for Aspen and Chicago (winters) and any other dry climates.

[Matthew Tucker]

Rosin is what is left from certain types of pine gum after distilling the turpentine from it. There's another very penetrating fraction called rosin oil. All ingredients are used in making varnishes.

I have been experimenting with using the red kino that exudes from certain eucalyptus trees, dissolving it in metho, and using it as a crude varnish. and guess what? I've discovered the secret of the cremonese masters! (... not)

but the principle is the same.

[mcnaire2004]

Melting your own rosin would be fun. And ya never know. You mite find something that works even better.

[Eric Rene Roy]

I used to work for an importer...and I would save all the rosin that was damaged by weather or shipping. After all the years I worked there...I now have a 5 gallon bucket in my shed full of misc smashed rosin. Maybe someday I will do something with it!

[Dr Rod]

what is the element that allows manufacturers to vary the hardness of rosin?

[reedo35]

The amount of pine tar in the mix, along with differing degrees of beeswax or carnuba wax.

[Dr Rod]

thanks reedo35

could there be a pine tar substitute?

See, according to the definition I found, pine tar is dark in colour, this would fit in with most rosins like Carlsons, Oak etc....but not with pop's, petz, and others.

Definition from wordreference.com:
pine tar: a dark viscous substance obtained from the destructive distillation of pine wood

[Dr Rod]

from the website you kindly gave me, I picked up the name of the main ingredient for Sherman's violin rosins, it's Sylvaros. Sylvaros on the internet is the name for polymerized rosin, in other words, I guess it's plastic rosin.

I had heard in the past that Pop's was synthetic, I thought it was just a myth, but maybe there is some truth to it.

[Kam]

You guys will never guess the secret ingredient though.
(It's love)

[Dr Rod]

well said Kam

[reedo35]

Awwww...

[Bill Bentgen]

I used to melt my disgarded globs of Pops in a soup can on a low heat hotplate and then pour it into the ketchup containers I would steal from Wendy's. This worked pretty good.

Then on the advice of Pat Cheatham I compared year-old Pops in the original container to Pops that was less than a week old (freshness date on the container). Now I have a new cake of Pops delivered automatically to my house every 3 months.

I switched back to Oak for a while, the rosin I started with back in the '60's, but I missed the grab, so I went back to Pops.

[ClassicalDB]

hey guys those are all great comments but i still havent gotten a straight answer. I don't know exactly what to do. Can anyone give me a step by step process?

[Dr Rod]

"i still havent gotten a straight answer"


Hi ClassicalDB,

G-force gave you his method, and reedo35 gave you a link with pictures and everything.

I would use double boiler type system, with an old can.