The Swedish Ship Götheborg Making tar!

Always wanted to know how tar is being made? Ron Groenestein, part of our international rigging team, will show you in this video!

[@threeriversforge1997]

Never would have thought to try reclaiming the tar from wood that's been tarred a few times over the years. Very slick idea!

[@christopherdesbaux5950]

This is great! I want to make tar for a traditional skiff :)

[@tomt9543]

Well done Sir! Information packed!

[@tobiasgrodde9736]

Thanks Ron. Nicely explained. I will try for myself. Hope to help you tarring but I'm not sure wether I get off from work. Tobias from midships (on the final leg)

[@SwedishShipGotheborg]

Yes Ron is a good teacher!

[@louiechidwick6034]

What type of wood were you using? Was the ship made from Pine or Spruce? Our English ships are mostly made from Oak which doesn't give as good yield of tar as evergreen trees. All the best, Louie.

[@RonGroenestein]

Hi Louie, thanks for your question! We had some old pine deckplanks, they were used for the tar. In the background you can hear my colleagues caulking the replacement deck planks.

[@reyperez8859]

Good work

[@dominictaylor6265]

Great video. Couple of questions: how long do you keep the fire going? Does the turpentine aspect really work? Neither you nor Mikko showed any result there. Obviously this method is much less labour intensive than the traditional one ( just spent 3 sleepless days doing it the old way). How is the quality of the tjära? I was always concerned that the outside sticks would burn too hot. Thanks

[@elisaa9981]

Thanks for an interesting video! How about the turpentine; did you get any?

[@RonGroenestein]

Maybe, since this is just a tiny volume of wood I was ward to see what was going on.

[@bc2.by.design]

This is the clearest video and best explanation I've have seen on making tar by this method. As simple as it seems, your showing the differences in consistency and color of the fluid progressing from water to fully tar was very helpful because of the close-ups and explanation of color and tackiness. Yours is the ONLY explanation I've seen for the extended pipe, i.e., while many mention that it is for turpentine, I've never seen anyone else mention that it is a distillation process. I enjoyed the demonstration of applying the tar to a rigging sample, too. Just one question: how long was this process once the fire was lit? And is the result ash or charcoal? Tack!

[@RonGroenestein]

Sorry for my late reaction Bill C. Since this is a small tin It takes about two (and a half) hours to fire completely. The result is charcoal if you manage to get the temperature down after firing or plug the hole in the bottom. You should definately watch the Mikko Snellman video about Finnish tar making on his KZbin channel.

[@waver1731]

Thank you for posting this video. It's excellent! Just a few questions: 1. Why is it important to keep the bottom of the large outer chamber cool with wet sand?; and 2. The connection between the drainage hole and the first pipe doesn't seem to be airtight. Do any of the volatile gases/smoke leak out through this area, or do they all get channeled through the first pipe without a problem? Thank you for any insights.

[@RonGroenestein]

A late answer, sorry for that. I was the one making the tar. The bottom needs to be relatively cold so the tar vapors will condensate there and drip out. A bit of vapour leakage is not a big efficiency problem.

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh5832]

Just use a funnel?

[@reyperez8859]

👍👍💕👌

[@SimiliaSC]

Dear Sir, From the audio, i was not able to fully understand the materials you mention at minute: 1.50 ( what are actually placing on top of the hole?) it looks like paper. Also the white tub at minute: 2.08 what is that? wonderful video!!! Bravo

[@tomt9543]

The white tub is linseed oil putty. Not sure what he put over the hole, but usually there is some arrangement of stones, metal etc. that prevent wood from falling down and totally blocking the hole, but still allowing the tar to access the hole from the sides.

[@frankjo4096]

Good video....if it wasen't for all the banging in the background

[@Immevds9372]

You have to be dutch!!! You sound like a dutch person talking english

[@elisaa9981]

Read the description. 😉