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Gum Arabic: Tapped from the Acacia, Dried in the Air
Gum arabic is the hardened gum that oozes from gum acacias. Strip small pieces of bark from the branches and a clear mucilage oozes out, hardening in the air into rounded tears. Andrew Ure (1839) notes gum Senegal was gathered in November; the tears dissolve in water and bind watercolours and inks.
The picture: raw gum arabic tears of different grades and the ground powder.
Beginner
A few weeks on the tree
Instructions
1
1
Tap the tree
Tap the tree
On a mature gum acacia, strip narrow pieces of bark from the branches with the tapping knife, without cutting into the wood.
Materials for this step:
Gum Acacia (Senegalia senegal)1 pieceTools needed:
Tapping Knife
Hatchet2
2
Let the tears harden
Let the tears harden
Leave the tree. Gum oozes from the wounds and hardens in the air into rounded tears, often hollow on one side.
3
3
Pick and sort
Pick and sort
Pick the hard tears into a basket. Spread them on mats in the sun, which bleaches them (Ure), and sort out bark and dark pieces; the clearest, palest tears are best.
Tools needed:
Basket
Woven Mat
Balance Scale4
4
Powder and store
Powder and store
The tears are brittle: crush them in a mortar and sift for a powder that dissolves quickly. Keep in a dry, closed jar.
Tools needed:
Mortar and Pestle
Sieve
Glass Jar5
5
Gum to binder
Gum to binder
Loading Jupyter Notebook...
6
6
Limits
Limits
Tapping and the gum's properties are from Wikipedia and Ure; the sorting and the solution strength are ours. The sources give no fixed waiting time between tapping and picking.
Materials
1- Placeholder
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