Home Made Creosote?

[charlessenf]

Do the roofing shingles dissolve completely?

No.

The fuel turns black/dark brown and the shingles remain relatively intact (though I've yet to try removing any of them after - what? - six years or more).

I added a plastic valve to a 5 or 6 gallon plastic bucket (old paint pail, drywall mud pail or similar) tossed in the shingles and filled the void with the diesel. Let it set for months, then pour some in an empty plastic coffee container (Folgers French Roast or Gourmet Supreme) and rest teh 4x4 post end in the mixture and brush it up the sides from time to time. Stuff seemed to get absorbed in the 4x4 nicely.

Recently been collecting and adding the creosote to the pail - have yet to try the new mix so I am not even sure it is disolving.

 

[Norm W]

If you have ever used a cough suppressant with the word tussin in the name you have taken an expectorant called "Guaifenesin". Guaifenesin is made from creosote. It is used in most of the cough meds because it works. Stuckmotor's father wasn't blowing smoke when he made his "Meds". It might (no kidding) not be laboratory quality, but it must have worked or he wouldn't have kept doing it. There used to be "Acid Works" aka Creosote factories, along route 17 in NY's southern tier. Whenever I used to drive through there, my sinuses would clear right out.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Add some coppertox, I know for sure it works.

 

[mikester]

If you have ever used a cough suppressant with the word tussin in the name you have taken an expectorant called "Guaifenesin". Guaifenesin is made from creosote. It is used in most of the cough meds because it works. Stuckmotor's father wasn't blowing smoke when he made his "Meds". It might (no kidding) not be laboratory quality, but it must have worked or he wouldn't have kept doing it. There used to be "Acid Works" aka Creosote factories, along route 17 in NY's southern tier. Whenever I used to drive through there, my sinuses would clear right out.

Interesting stories about where stuff comes from - Aspirin is a coal tar derivative developed by the Bayer company looking to make something out of a waste product stream. The same chemist inventor also created Heroin which he thought was the best thing since sliced bread.

Initially they thought ASA was useless until someone incidentally reported that the stuff relieved pain when their local chemist (aka pharmacist) screwed up a prescription and accidentally gave them the wrong stuff.

 

[charlessenf]

If you have ever used a cough suppressant with the word tussin in the name you have taken an expectorant called "Guaifenesin". Guaifenesin is made from creosote. It is used in most of the cough meds because it works. Stuckmotor's father wasn't blowing smoke when he made his "Meds". It might (no kidding) not be laboratory quality, but it must have worked or he wouldn't have kept doing it. There used to be "Acid Works" aka Creosote factories, along route 17 in NY's southern tier. Whenever I used to drive through there, my sinuses would clear right out.

"Why should I press 1 for English?" Are you calling from a foreign (non-English-speaking) nation? In such a case that option would seem reasonable. But when calling from America? Shouldn't English serve as the presumption of a vendor?

As to the medicinal potential of my fuel oil mix, I'm not ingesting any of it (intentionally)! But I found a page on the subject down along the Guaifenesin* Rabbit Hole that mentions creosote 27 times (

Creosote - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

www.sciencedirect.com

) as well as a link thereon to a page on Guaifenesin* (

Guaifenesin - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

www.sciencedirect.com

) which mentions creosote nary once!

So far, nothing confirming the "Creosote, it's in your cough syrup" allegation, above.

Even further off-topic, but seen in this thread as a concern:

Humans - Don't eat this ****!​

Toxicity is expressed either via general depression with cardiac collapse or via the irritating/corrosive nature by irritation and burns of the skin and eyes. Brief exposures via inhalation may cause respiratory irritation. Oral exposure to larger quantities of creosote may result in stomach pains and burning of the mouth. Large doses (7 g for adults and 1–2 g for children) have been associated with death 14–17 h after ingestion.

* How in the dickens is this pronounced??

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I found this:
Respiratory system

Paul Rutter PhD, FRPharmS, FFRPS, SFHEA, in Community Pharmacy, 2021

Expectorants

A number of active ingredients have been formulated to help expectoration, including guaifenesin, ammonium salts, ipecacuanha, creosote and squill.

Like everything (imho) it all boils down to amount and frequency. We all get oil on our hands every time we change oil, gas and diesel fuel when filling. Wash it off and you're fine. Getting it on you every day not washing is a problem.
Wearing gloves with creosote and exposed to it once every decade should be fine.

 

[Rustyiron]

I sure would like to be able to buy a 5 gallon pail of it.
I remember sloshing it on regular k/d lumber for decks as a kid for my Dad.

 

[ning]

I found this, very topical: Roofing Tar and Gasoline...... in Sawmills and Milling

 

[/pine]

Years ago it was common to use a mixture of roofing cement and kerosene to make a stain used to paint the undersides of roof soffits before the screening and boards were installed...

 

[ning]

I suspect it's somewhat effective, but fell out of favor because of groundwater contamination.
I have a big gate & entry project coming up and I've been trying to figure out what to use; for a fairly free-standing structure I don't think bolting wood to a concrete base would be stable enough (given a 15' above-ground height) so I've been wondering about getting 20' posts and coating them in something before sinking them...