"h.e. sea" > wrote in message
> have found a couple of old news articles which mention something about a
> worker accidentally dropping a potato in pine resin which was being boiled
> to make turpentine, but this doesn't sound very safe.

Safer than you may think. Turpentine boils at about 300 degrees, it comes
from trees, and is used in drugs. But what you want is a rosin baked
potato.


turpentine
Related: Organic Chemistry

yellow to brown semifluid oleoresin exuded from the sapwood of pines,
firs, and other conifers. It is made up of two principal components, an
essential oil and a type of resin that is called rosin . The essential oil
(oil of turpentine) can be separated from the rosin by steam distillation.
Commercial turpentine, or turps, is this oil of turpentine. When pure, it is
a colorless, transparent, oily liquid with a penetrating odor and a
characteristic taste. It contains a large proportion of pinene, a compound
from which camphor is manufactured. Turpentine is obtained in large amounts
from several species of pines of the SE United States; its physical
properties, e.g., boiling point, depend on its source. It is used chiefly as
a solvent and drying agent in paints and varnishes


rosin
Related: Organic Chemistry

or colophony, hard, brittle, translucent resin , obtained as a solid
residue from crude turpentine . Usually pale yellow or amber, its color may
vary from brownish-black to transparent depending on the nature of the
source of the crude turpentine. Rosin has no taste but often has a faint
odor of pine. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, turpentine, and several other
organic solvents, and in solutions of various metal hydroxides. Rosin is not
a pure substance but a mixture of several compounds, chiefly abietic acid.
It is used in making cements, varnishes, paints, sealing wax, adhesives, and
some soaps; for treating violin bows; as a dressing for machine belting; as
a sizing material for paper; in the preparation of certain metals for
soldering; and, in pharmacy, in some ointments, plasters, and similar
preparations. Athletes commonly rub it (in the form of dust) upon their
hands or the soles of their shoes to prevent slipping.