gourds

[mudd turtle]

After reading the post on things made of gourds I began to think about how to make a gourd safe to drink from and how to make them stronger and hold up longer. Would it be safe to use shelac on the inside. I know about useing brewers pitch and bee's wax . Any ideas anyone will share would be appreciated. Mudd Turtle.

 

[George]

There are some advantages to being old, mudd turtle, and I'm old enough to remember that my grandparents always kept a bucket of well water in the kitchen for anyone who wanted it. They kept a gourd dipper hanging by it, and it was not treated in any way, It was just a natural gourd. It gave a mild but distinct taste of wet gourd to the water, and I still think that is a marvelous taste, brings back very fond memories. I have made a similar gourd just because I could. I only use it rarely, but it tastes just the same.



Spence

 

[mudd turtle]

Spence : We share being old in common. My Grand parents down in Trussville Alabama kept a bucket of well water and a gourd dipper on the back poarch also and I too remember that wonderfully cold water and how it tasted . Thank you for your post Mudd Turtle.

 

[Black Hand]

I coat mine with beewax for cold applications (gives a faint honey odor and flavor to water) and vegetable oil for hot.

I prefer some coating, as it would retard deterioration (from the constant dry/wet/dry/wet). For beeswax, I wax the inside and the outside.

Either way, gourds are expendable. I WOULD NOT use shellac if it will be used for food or drink items.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I make the occasional gourd, "canteen", and line it with beeswax. The outside I leave natural, and when my personal one got a crack in it..., I hastily coated the outside to stop the leak. Well it worked for the leak but it made the gourd very fragile. I think it needs at least the outside surface to "breathe" so IF you use beeswax or brewer's pitch, I'd only do the inside.

LD

 

[Black Hand]

I hastily coated the outside to stop the leak. Well it worked for the leak but it made the gourd very fragile. I think it needs at least the outside surface to "breathe" so IF you use beeswax or brewer's pitch, I'd only do the inside.

LD

I've not had the same experience with the dozen or so gourds I've made.

I coat the inside with beeswax (multiple applications with heating in the oven to help it penetrate) and give the outside a thin coat with beeswax which is heated with a heatgun and wiped. Any excess is polished off the exterior with a paper-towel or canvas.

I fail to see why the outside should need to "breathe", as the rind is essentially impervious to water and air.

Either way, gourds are disposable items...

 

[ohio ramrod]

Shellac is not harmful after the alcohol solvent has dried . In fact shellac is used in some candy and medicine coatings. But since it dissolves in alcohol it wouldn't do my drinking gourd any good. :idunno:

 

[Black Hand]

Shellac is not harmful after the alcohol solvent has dried . In fact shellac is used in some candy and medicine coatings. But since it dissolves in alcohol it wouldn't do my drinking gourd any good. :idunno:

:thumbsup:

That is why I use beeswax - impervious to water and alcohol.

 

[George]

I have a couple of gourd canteens which I've used regularly for the last 15 years, and I've done nothing to either of them, inside or out. They seem no different now than the day I made them.

Spence

 

[razorbritches]

Dave my son cracked his canteen around the spout two cracks my feeling was it's cracked what do we have to loose. I melted the wax lining out, and used my awl to punch holes down both sides then stitched the cracks closed. We had to use tiny pegs to stop the stitch holes then relined it with wax that was two years ago. you can see some of the Frankenstein stitches at the top they just made it look cool-er

 

[Rick Son]

That's a nice canteen do you sell them?Apologise if i shouldn't ask that here.

 

[BillinOregon]

Razor: Wow that is a handsome canteen! I have not seen the like before. Any time you feel like doing a tutorial, just go ahead on her ...

:applause:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Wow what a canteen!

Question; I have some good size gourds hanging green in the garden. We are having a vary wet (for us) fall, tomatoes already drowned and rotted. Should I let the gourds hang till the vines die? Or pull them now (still green but about a Quart and a half large) & try to dry them inside?

 

[stan]

Sean, gourds should be left on the vine to dry. They do much better that way. I tried pulling some early a few years ago and most of them rotted. I won't try that again.