Pine Pitch alternative

[nclonghunter]

Not certain what ingredients make the BOHNING FERR-L-TITE hot glue, but it is a honey gold looking stick that gets soft with heat then hardens as it cools. I used it growing up as many of you have for gluing the old Bear broadheads and various points to wood shafts. I just tried it as a pine pitch substitute on a stone point and wood shaft and it worked great. It appears to be a very clean type of pitch, but not certain.

This may be old news to some of you but thought I would share it;  http://www.bohning.com/store/ferr-l-tite-individual-stick.html

[mullet]

 I use epoxy with stone points.

[stringstretcher]

nclonghunter.  I also used to use ferr-l-tite a lot in the past years.  What was discoverd with it, as it ages it becomes very very brittle.  If you take that out in very cold weather, you are going to see it start to flake off.  Even when using it on inserts for alum. arrows, over time it would break up pretty bad.  Not that it's not good, but what I have found to work better is the big hot melt glue stick that you can get form 3 rivers or Tom Parsons.  It is a low melt, high strength glue and works much better than ferr-l-tite.  IMO.

[hillbilly61]

  A friend of mine, half eye, showed me an alliterative. You use 2 part epoxy and add ashes. Experiment with the amount to get the color you want. Works good and looks good.

[nclonghunter]

stringstretcher, I agree it will harden with time and become brittle.

I question using the epoxy, which I am certain will bond well and work great in securely holding the point, but I believe once it has been set it can not be heated and the glue softened again like pitch or the hot glues. Therefore should the point break or a need to change points arise it would be difficult to remove and add another point. I have not truly hunted with the stone points,  so attempting to look at different scenarios, if using a hardwood fore shaft in say a river cane arrow then making a new fore shaft would be an easier option. If epoxying the point directly into a hardwood arrow or river cane arrow and it breaks then cutting the point off or making a new shaft would be the only option I see. If you break the point after taking game, then maybe just keep the entire arrow as a collection piece. Probably never shoot enough points to make the hot glue Vs. epoxy a real concern for me, but in a primitive perspective being able to heat the glue and replace the tip with a new sharp point would be a better option I think. Just a matter of personal preference and I'm good with either way. Thanks for the comments and objective views.

[JackCrafty]

I wonder if you could heat up the old ferr-l-tite and make it non-brittle again?

[sailordad]

nclonghunter, all the epoxy i have ever used  can be heated up to a certain temp and the adhesion properties
of the epoxy will let loose,much like other glues 
i use epoxy on knife scales and some stone to wood knife glue ups
there have been times i didnt like the scales i put on and just used my heat gun untill the epoxy let loose

as far as hafting stome points
all i ever use is pine pitch and sinew
but i dont hunt with the primitive arrows i make(illegal to use stone where i live)
they are just wall hangers so i keep them as primitive as possible

i for one dont beleive i could use epoxy on a primitive arrow or knife and still call it primitive

[nclonghunter]

That is interesting epoxy can be heated and it becomes soft.

I totally agree with using primitive material for a truly primitive result. However, as we learn to use strictly primitive material on our journey we will eventually be rewarded with a truly primitive result. As we go along our journey we may need to use alternative ways until we obtain or learn to produce the primitive materials in a primitive method. A tree for a bow that is cut down with a chainsaw, is it truly primitive? I'm not attempting to justify my methods, nor am I attacking anyone on here, I guess I am soul searching my perspective and sharing it openly. I will use alternative methods until I learn or obtain the skills needed to create a completely primitive set of hunting tools. I know others are on their journey with different degrees of skills and knowledge. That is what I love about this forum and the knowledgeable folks willing to share their acquired/learned knowledge. Sorry I got deeper than I intended..

Thanks again for everyone's input.