Natural stain

**dusteater** · 30th January 2018, 09:53 PM

I was reading up on the uses of the Grasstree ,past ( Indigenous ) and present ( pioneers) .
The first people used it for a variety of food sources to their "super glue"and waterproofing , and was a prized trade commodity.
The first settlers used it for a floor varnish as well as incense for the churches and probably for what the Aboriginals used it as well.
Anyhow I thought I`d see what the varnish would turn out like.
So I crushed some resin up added some metho which dissolves it and a bit of danish oil, I think in the old days they used Linseed , tried it on a bit of pine to see the effect.

**rwbuild** · 30th January 2018, 10:45 PM

Not bad at all

**Xanthorrhoeas** · 3rd February 2018, 04:41 PM

Hi David,

Yes, the early settlers learned a lot from the original inhabitants of our land and tried a few interesting things as well. One of the early scientists, JH Maiden, recorded many of the uses including that white settlers crushed the resin and tried it as a cure for both diarrhoea and constipation!

Usefulness as a finish probably varies by species (there are 33 known different species and subspecies of xanthorrhoeas). On early furniture here in the east the resin tended to go lumpy and degrade - but it probably took a few years to so. I have no idea how well X. preissii will last.
David

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