dragons blood

[greg zechman]

is there another name for dragons blood..cant seem to locate it anywhere...thanks bugsy

 

[greg zechman]

sorry this question was suppose to be with the title of oil finish....thank you

 

[Zonie]

The best I can do for you is to say that the Dixie Catalog says
DRAGON'S BLOOD: Resin extracted from the fruit of the Malayan rattan palm.

Also, here's a link that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about it:
[url] http://www.cropwatch.org/dragons.htm[/url]

zonie

 

[tom hargrove]

Dragon's Blood
Scientific names: Croton lechleri

Common names: Dragon's blood also is known as sangre de grado, sangre de drago, and drago.

Efficacy-safety rating:

Ã’Ã’...Ethno or other evidence of efficacy.

Safety rating:
●...Little exposure or very minor concerns.
What is Dragon's Blood used for?
Traditional/Ethnobotanical uses

Sangre de grado, Spanish for “blood of the dragon,” has a long history of use for both the bark and the resin. An early reference dating back to the 1600s notes that Spanish explorer P. Bernabe Cobo found the sap was being used by indigenous tribes throughout Peru and Ecuador. C. lechleri resin and bark are used in traditional medicine in South America. They used it internally and externally to stop bleeding, help heal wounds, and treat intestinal problems. Studies regarding this plant date back to the late 1970s. Preparations made from dragon's blood are found in several pharmaceutical products, some of them patented
Wound-healer/Antiviral

Dragon's blood has been used for its antiviral and wound-healing effects. Taspine, a component of dragon's blood, has been documented to have anti-inflammatory and wound-healing actions. Taspine and a proanthocyanidin component also have been shown to have antiviral activities. Animal and laboratory tests have shown some promise for the use of dragon's blood for these medicinal effects. To date, there are no human clinical studies verifying these effects.
GI effects

Dragon's blood also plays a role in GI health. Practitioners are reporting it beneficial for stomach ulcers, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease when taken internally. Preparations made from dragon's blood are found in several pharmaceutical products, some of them patented. A patent describing use of the proanthocyanidin polymer from croton species (SP-303) as an antidiarrheal was issued to Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc. USA. A clinical trial of the principal ingredient (SP-303) in patients with HIV-associated diarrhea demonstrated beneficial effects. This important “rainforest resource” has several uses that have been validated by several studies.
What is the dosage of Dragon's Blood?

The standardized dragon's blood product SP-303 (Provir) has been studied for diarrhea at doses of 125 to 500 mg daily.
Is Dragon's Blood safe?
Contraindications

Contraindications have not yet been identified.
Pregnancy/nursing

Information regarding safety and efficacy in pregnancy and lactation is lacking.
Interactions

None well documented.
Side Effects

There have been no major toxicities reported with the use of dragon's blood.
Toxicities

No data available.

References

1. Dragon's Blood. Review of Natural Products. factsandcomparisons4.0 [online]. 2004. Available from Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Accessed April 16, 2007.

Copyright © 2006 Wolters Kluwer Health


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[Stophel]

Dragon's blood can be had from Kremer Pigmente. It is rather expensive. It is used for coloring spirit varnish. It does not fuse with oil varnish (well, I think there is a high-temp way to do it, but why bother?).

I often fill/seal the grain with shellac/spirit varnish before using an oil varnish over it as a top coat. Even when using spirit varnish made entirely of dragon's blood, it does not impart that much color to the wood. It cannot be used as a stain. Plus, you end up with red specks all over the wood. I don't color my grain-filling varnish.

I have not experimented with spirit varnish for a top coat (other than just slopping some on scrap pieces of wood). It DOES add quite a bit of red color when using the spirit varnish as a top coat. :wink:

 

You might want to look up madder root as its soluble in oil and will give you that reddish tone you're looking for. There's an example of what a gifted hand can do with this stuff on Bill Shipman's web page. Look at his madder root Lehigh.

Two sources for pigments and other varnish supplies:[url] http://www.woodfinishingenterprises.com/index.html http://sinopia.com/kremer.html[/url]

Sean

 

[Stophel]

If you're wanting a red oil varnish, there were a number of pigments used historically. Madder being one of them. The Siennas all have varying degrees of translucency. Picking out the one you want is just trial and error. Not a big deal, though, since these pigments are pretty cheap. I have something called "red bole" which was "used for glazes", but I haven't tried it yet. By the way, don't bother with synthetic alizarin...it works fine, but the color is...well, it's pretty wild pinkish purple.

Here's a test piece that I did some time ago with a synthetic transparent iron oxide (basically a man-made version of a sienna).

Note, there is no stain on the wood underneath the varnish! I have seen old guns that were finished this way in addition to guns that were stained then had red varnish applied. "Gun #42" MAY have had red varnish...there is a definite reddish hue in the nooks and crannies of this gun.

Red varnish is something that seems to have been pretty well limited to the Lehigh/eastern Berks county areas, where it was fairly common.

The pigments are mulled into the oil varnish. Basically, you are making paint. You need a real muller and a piece of flat marble slab to mix on. Once again, Kremer is a good source of this stuff. I believe that Kremer US is now handled by Sinopia...[url] www.sinopia.com[/url] They may or may not have a complete kremer listing on their website at this time.