When I first decided to write about rich pine I googled around to see what had already been written about the subject. There were a few articles and blog posts on rich pine-but not nearly as many as I thought there would be.
I did find an especially interesting blog post about making flowers with rich pine or fat lighter as the gentleman who wrote the post called it. He didn’t actually make flowers-he was making fire starter kits for a boy scout meeting-they just happen to look like flowers.
As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted to try to make them. You can click here to jump over and see how he made his-we used a slightly different method to make ours.
Luky for me-when we went on our rich pine hunt-we found several trees of rich pine with their small branches still intact-and fully formed into rich pine themsleves.
First we cut about a 5 inch length of rich pine from one of the branches-you can see the diameter was small.
The Deer Hunter carefully shaved all the outer bark from the piece. We tried using the method from the blog post I found-but all our ‘petals’ kept falling off. The Deer Hunter came up with the idea of carefully starting at the top of the piece and pulling the shavings toward you-stopping about half way down the length of wood.
As you pull the shavings-turn the piece as you go-pulling shavings from all sides. Eventually the top piece will sharpen into a point and fall or break off easily leaving the flower behind. The top piece can be used as a fire starter as well.
Our method requires a sharp knife-and a steady hand. The method used in the blog post I found-of pushing the shavings away from you-would be safer for children and adults. We just couldn’t get it too work. Perhaps the author of the blog post had sharper tools or his rich pine was split differently. Either way-the flower fire starters would be good to take along on your next camping trip-or just for building a fire at home. They smell so good I may just use them as air fresheners.
Tipper
They do look like flowers!
I have got to get out and find me some rich pine and try this, too.
That’s a neat idea!
Never heard of ’em, but sure can see how they’d be great fire-starters.
God bless.
RB
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Enjoyed reading the articles on rich pine and the making of the pine rich flowers…had never heard of such a thing before, but we do alot of camping and I am going to make a point of getting out to the woods and looking for some rich pine.. 🙂
Great ideas and the “fire-starting” kit would be easy to pack. Great page and very informative. Thank you for sharing.
Angie
Thanks for sharing Tipper! On my to do list for a weekend project. Like that we can use this to light the fire and freshen up the house.
A flower pot made with those would be nice for an air freshner…. I love the way they look, and the way they burn is even better!!!!!
These are pretty, practical and would make a room smell fresh!
When I peel a tater or an apple, I don’t move the knife, I move the object. I hold the knife exactly like the hands in the picture shows. You’re not likely to cut yourself that way and if you do it’s only your thumb.
Tipper,
Loved this post….I haven’t seen one of those in ages…
There was a whittler that used to carve beautiful birds, animals..etc..and showed and sold his work at craft shows…One of my favorite things to attend, anyhow….If you couldn’t afford one of his birds…you could buy one of his flowers…Somehow he put the flower on a longer stick maybe ten inches or maybe the stick was part of the whole thing? He then stood the whole bunch of flowers in a fruit jar..I think he sold them for seventy-five cents…As time went on I saw that he dipped each one in natural stain to get very light colors (reds,oranges,and blue) flowers….I don’t remember them having the strong pine scent..only woody scent..LOL
I bought one years ago and kept it in a small vase…It is now lost in never, never land with my other crafts….
I love the idea of fire startes and baskets of them by the fire place…
Thanks Tipper,
That picture reminded me of my Grandpa. He used to make dolls for me out of twigs and that technique was used to make the hair. He would make a flower top for hair and then carve in the eyes and mouth and then split the sides for arms.
Tipper,
Thanks for the article on “Rich Pine”, lightwood, lightard, pine heartwood, or many other synonyms that could and have been used.
I am a primitive crafts enthusiast and use small pieces of rich pine cut from limbs that make nice sections about 2″ in diameter and 4″ long as part of a fire starting kit. I shave or scrape small fragments from these pieces and add to my tinder of grass, bark, etc. They I use my bow drill to get a coal to place in the tinder to start a fire. It also works well with flint and steel.
I do some seminars on primitive crafts and survival and pass these tips on to students.
I enjoy your website, as it reminds me of my childhood and many of the customs and traditions that have ceased to be observed today.
Keep up the good work.
I find it hard to believe that anyone could have a knife sharper than the Deer Hunters. He can, and does, seriously sharpen that pocket knife of his.
These flowers are a great idea. Shaved out like that they would ignite very quickly.
Tipper, and all who would make rich pine wood flowers, this whole procedure, explained and illustrated so well with detailed photographs, reminded me of our Appalachian ways of “making-do” with what we have. This included, of course, using rich pine knots to kindle our fires, but it also included making our own games and pasttimes. I can’t remember my Daddy ever cutting rich pine flowers–but oh! The whirligigs he made us, cut out of any lightwood, and put on the end of a stick with a tack or even a straight pin! How many hours of pleasure they gave us. And who remembers the “toothbrushes” made from blackgum wood? These, dipped in baking soda, made a good brush with cleanser to keep our teeth clean! Maybe the latter worked, for even at my advanced age, I still have my own healthy teeth (not to mention that I was well-fed on calcium from the fresh milk from our cows). “Little Pine-Wood Flower”–you elicited many memories today. And I think Tipper’s creative brother (or the Deer Hunter–or Tipper herself–or someone) might even find a song in that expression!
Very interesting and I think if you had several of those “lightered flowers” in a room it would smell like a Christmas tree. The idea of using that as a campfire starter is also a good one. I’d think some of the petals would come off, but that would be ok.
Yup, that’s the method the Boy Scouts have been teaching since the very earliest years. I saw it in a 1940’s copy of the “Manual” I had as a boy.
I look at the pictures of these flowers and it just seems like I can inhale their fresh fragance. A basket of these would make a pretty rustic air freshener. Tie a big bow on the basket and it would make a great gift for someone with a fireplace or a wood heater. Thank you for sharing them Tipper.
Thanks for the information. Trying to live in the country, this information may come in handy one day.
Now that is really cool and definitely a conversation piece. I like it.
What a great idea! Thanks for teaching me something new!
I am so jealous. When it quits raining I must goes look for some of this kind of wood.
well they look pretty and i bet they burn pretty tooo
how cool is this!
Tip, those are so cute(yes I know they are functional, too!) but using them as air fresheners sounds good to me! Drop them into a big glass jar and they will look awesome!
very interesting and useful!
I can see why pulling the knife toward you would work so much better because you have more control. I peel potatoes and apples by peeling toward my hand also and it freaks so many people out! But I can’t control a knife any other way. Guess it is just because I was taught that way! 🙂
Never would have thought of this. A great idea to use for air freshener too.
very interesting
That’s just Sheer Genius!!
Nuff said!