Whiskey Flask Liner

[SAOutdoorsman]

Good day to all,

I have just joined this forum and this is my first post so I will get right to it.

In the picture above is a whiskey flask that I've made using as authentic as possible the materials and tools that were available during the colonial periods.

However, I did not initially add a liner inside. Well, a friend suggested I use Brewer's Pitch to line the flask. Thus, I found a recipe and made my own pitch from pine resin and beeswax, and then proceeded to line the flask. But, I later read that stronger spirits soften and dissolve Brewer's Pitch. I tested it out myself after the pitch hardened by letting it sit with whiskey inside. After an hour's time I took the lid off and found the pitch to be soft and smudgy.

Now I've read quite a few threads here and some say that beeswax is less affected by strong spirits. Would it help to line beeswax over the pitch? And if not, would there be a health risk to just letting the pitch dissolve over time and then carry on using it un-lined?
I also have a concern of damage that occurred inside the horn. About a half-inch round piece chipped off the horn inside while I scraped excess pitch off. If the liner were to wash off over time, it would expose this chipped part and possibly leak or become weakened.

Lastly, I did not know how to purify my Brewer's Pitch, I just let it simmer, hoping the turpentine would boil off. Would any residual turpentine pose a health risk?

Does anyone have advice as to my queries above?

Kind regards,
SAOutdoorsman

 

[Brokennock]

View attachment 114974

Good day to all,

I have just joined this forum and this is my first post so I will get right to it.

In the picture above is a whiskey flask that I've made using as authentic as possible the materials and tools that were available during the colonial periods.

However, I did not initially add a liner inside. Well, a friend suggested I use Brewer's Pitch to line the flask. Thus, I found a recipe and made my own pitch from pine resin and beeswax, and then proceeded to line the flask. But, I later read that stronger spirits soften and dissolve Brewer's Pitch. I tested it out myself after the pitch hardened by letting it sit with whiskey inside. After an hour's time I took the lid off and found the pitch to be soft and smudgy.

Now I've read quite a few threads here and some say that beeswax is less affected by strong spirits. Would it help to line beeswax over the pitch? And if not, would there be a health risk to just letting the pitch dissolve over time and then carry on using it un-lined?
I also have a concern of damage that occurred inside the horn. About a half-inch round piece chipped off the horn inside while I scraped excess pitch off. If the liner were to wash off over time, it would expose this chipped part and possibly leak or become weakened.

Lastly, I did not know how to purify my Brewer's Pitch, I just let it simmer, hoping the turpentine would boil off. Would any residual turpentine pose a health risk?

Does anyone have advice as to my queries above?

Kind regards,
SAOutdoorsman

All good questions.
Very interesting project.
Why not use that one for powder and make another one for your beverage of choice?

 

[springfield art]

View attachment 114974

Good day to all,

I have just joined this forum and this is my first post so I will get right to it.

In the picture above is a whiskey flask that I've made using as authentic as possible the materials and tools that were available during the colonial periods.

However, I did not initially add a liner inside. Well, a friend suggested I use Brewer's Pitch to line the flask. Thus, I found a recipe and made my own pitch from pine resin and beeswax, and then proceeded to line the flask. But, I later read that stronger spirits soften and dissolve Brewer's Pitch. I tested it out myself after the pitch hardened by letting it sit with whiskey inside. After an hour's time I took the lid off and found the pitch to be soft and smudgy.

Now I've read quite a few threads here and some say that beeswax is less affected by strong spirits. Would it help to line beeswax over the pitch? And if not, would there be a health risk to just letting the pitch dissolve over time and then carry on using it un-lined?
I also have a concern of damage that occurred inside the horn. About a half-inch round piece chipped off the horn inside while I scraped excess pitch off. If the liner were to wash off over time, it would expose this chipped part and possibly leak or become weakened.

Lastly, I did not know how to purify my Brewer's Pitch, I just let it simmer, hoping the turpentine would boil off. Would any residual turpentine pose a health risk?

Does anyone have advice as to my queries above?

Kind regards,
SAOutdoorsman

Yeah, whiskey is usually at least 40% alcohol! Interesting project, thanks.

 

[Ponderosaman]

The guy who played taps at my granpas funeral, I found out later used a device that was inside the bugle so it would play perfect every time. I think it is great to try the old way, but it can then render your project unusable. We don’t still clean our hats with mercury. I say use a modern method inside to make your flask so it’s safe to drink from, but I don’t go to the trouble of being period correct like many on this site. I see the value of hc/pc, it’s just not my thing.

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

All good questions.
Very interesting project.
Why not use that one for powder and make another one for your beverage of choice?

Hi there Brokennock,

Thank-you for your reply.

The thought had occurred to me, however, the curvature of the horn is best suited to the left side of my body and I prefer the powder horn to be on my right, I find it easier to load that way. And secondly, so much work went into making this a drinking horn that it would be a shame to relinquish it of its purpose.

Kind regards,
SAO

 

[Woody Morgan]

A drinking horn on one side and a powder horn on the other. At the same time?

wm

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

The guy who played taps at my granpas funeral, I found out later used a device that was inside the bugle so it would play perfect every time. I think it is great to try the old way, but it can then render your project unusable. We don’t still clean our hats with mercury. I say use a modern method inside to make your flask so it’s safe to drink from, but I don’t go to the trouble of being period correct like many on this site. I see the value of hc/pc, it’s just not my thing.

Hi Ponderosaman,

I understand where you are coming from and there is merit in what you say.

However, I'm somewhat on a mission to preserve the old ways. I'm from South Africa and it's as a very result of "pc" that my own heritage is dying. So I would rather try figure this out using historical methods and materials so, Lord willing, I can pass it on to someone one day.

Kind regards,
SAO

 

[Robby]

That could get a bit messy with a little distraction. Just remember, alcohol and gun powder do not mix. Hic!
Robby

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

A drinking horn on one side and a powder horn on the other. At the same time?

wm

Woody Morgan,

Indeed so. My Boer ancestors would carry a whiskey horn on their one side, and a powder horn on the other.

SAO

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

That could get a bit messy with a little distraction. Just remember, alcohol and gun powder do not mix. Hic!
Robby

Robby,

You're 100% on that one. But that set-up of theirs was either for war, hunting or traveling. Definitely not for a shooting range scenario.

But some of them did get a suprise in the heat of war when whiskey poured out their barrels and the taste of sulphur hit their tongues.

SAO

 

[Ohio.75]

That could get a bit messy with a little distraction. Just remember, alcohol and gun powder do not mix. Hic!
Robby

Maybe trade the whiskey for Navy strength rum?

 

[user 48679]

Welcome to the board, SAO ! !

I would pull off the butt cap and fit/bed a fluid receptacle ( glass ? ) inside the horn, adhered to the inner face of the butt cap/plug with something (epoxy ?) that alcohol won't dissolve.

What happens inside the horn, stays inside the horn.....

 

[deerstalkert]

Liquid Glass Epoxy Resin – Pourable Plastic Resin
but you may have trouble with the residue of the current experiment.
you would have to put the horn on a rotisserie of some type to keep it from slumping into one pool.
i would find a flask of a dimension that would fit in the horn.
maybe something like a bota bag would work too.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Hi Ponderosaman,

I understand where you are coming from and there is merit in what you say.

However, I'm somewhat on a mission to preserve the old ways. I'm from South Africa and it's as a very result of "pc" that my own heritage is dying. So I would rather try figure this out using historical methods and materials so, Lord willing, I can pass it on to someone one day.

Kind regards,
SAO

What about a liner made with a bladder? Seems like that would work, though no idea if it is pc.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Keep it drained that way the pitch will not go soft. Good whisky should not sit around long anyhow.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Keep it drained that way the pitch will not go soft. Good whisky should not sit around long anyhow.

Agreed. If I’m filling a hip flask, I intend to use the whiskey in a day or so.

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

Welcome to the board, SAO ! !

I would pull off the butt cap and fit/bed a fluid receptacle ( glass ? ) inside the horn, adhered to the inner face of the butt cap/plug with something (epoxy ?) that alcohol won't dissolve.

What happens inside the horn, stays inside the horn.....

Hi Pietro,

Thanks for the welcome message!

I appreciate your idea and it could work. But that butt cap is actually the lid with its flat spout. So if I did attach something inside, the mouth of that object would have to be fitted to the lid's base.

SAO

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

Liquid Glass Epoxy Resin – Pourable Plastic Resin
but you may have trouble with the residue of the current experiment.
you would have to put the horn on a rotisserie of some type to keep it from slumping into one pool.
i would find a flask of a dimension that would fit in the horn.
maybe something like a bota bag would work too.

deerstalkert,

Thanks for your reply.

The first half of your idea won't be applicable as I'm trying to make this historically accurate.
However, the second half of your idea is very similar to Pietro's. It could work and I will consider it.

SAO

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

What about a liner made with a bladder? Seems like that would work, though no idea if it is pc.

Hi Ponderosaman,

I actually didn't think of bladders. I assume a pig's bladder would be strongest? Although I have never used or tanned bladders, but I know people used to make pouches from bladders in the old days. Its spherical shape should theoretically fill the horn up well too.

A note on "pc": I'm not too worried about that. In fact I detest political correctness as it were. All I ideally would like is for materials and methods to be as accurate as possible. Firstly it presents a good challenge to do it the old way, and secondly - as I mentioned before - I keep my heritage alive through doing things this way. And there's something deeply satisfying about both those points. A bladder-lined horn may not be entirely accurate, but all materials were available back then, so I don't see why it couldn't be done.

Thanks again,
SAO

 

[SAOutdoorsman]

Keep it drained that way the pitch will not go soft. Good whisky should not sit around long anyhow.

appalichian hunter,

That would be ideal, however, this flask is intended as a traveling/camping item, so it would have to hold the whiskey for extended periods.

Kind regards,
SAO