What is the Difference Between Resin and Rosin?
Resin is the name given to a gummy liquid that is found in many plants, but it is used especially to mean the crude turpentine that is exuded by various pine, fir and larch trees. The crude turpentine is distilled to separate the oil of turpentine from the solid matter. It is this solid matter which we call rosin. Rosin comes in hard, brittle lumps, ranging in color from a pale amber to a very dark brown.
Rosin is used for many purposes. Varnishes, sealing-wax, soap and cement are among the useful articles which contain it. Violinists rub rosin on their bows to make them grip the violin strings properly, and ballet dancers use it to prevent their shoes from slipping on the floor. Sometimes rosin is sold in solid form and sometimes as a powder.
A great deal of the world’s supply of resin and turpentine comes from the belt of long- leaf pine forest that extends from North Carolina to Florida and across the Gulf states as far as Texas. The resin, turpentine, pitch and tar obtained from these forests are called Naval Stores, because they were used in the building of ships in the days of wooden sailing vessels. Nowadays these products are not needed for shipbuilding, but they are widely used in a great many other ways, especially in the paint industry.
