petunia - Posted - 12/07/2011:  20:08:26

Although my incarcerated son has access to a violin, rosin is prohibited at the Idaho Correctional Center.  Rosin is considered poisonous.  What common substance could be substituted for rosin? 

mudbug - Posted - 12/08/2011:  02:16:13

There is a type of rosin,  for people with allergies,  called  "hypo-allergenic" .  Maybe you could contact a maker and see if this fits your criteria. 

mudbug - Posted - 12/08/2011:  02:20:39

Here's anouther thought.   There must be a dispenary where "controlled substances" are kept track of and dispensed.  Maybe he could check with the authorities about keeping the rosin there and going there to swipe his bow.

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 12/08/2011:  04:54:06

Get him an incredibow...they still need rosining, but not nearly as often as regulars...maybe visitors could rosin it once in a while and give it back to hin?

fiddlerjoebob - Posted - 12/08/2011:  05:00:58

what about a mandolin? Its not a fiddle but...

Is rosin poisonous? We used to chew spruce gum. I don't know why we did it, it tastes like crap. but we didn't get dead either.

woodwiz - Posted - 12/08/2011:  06:12:24

Rosin is pine resin with the volatiles cooked off, sometimes with a little beeswax mixed in.  Hardly toxic, although it can be irritant and allergenic.  Try getting an MSDS for the rosin of your choice and showing it to the prison authorities.  It might be best to find out who the decision maker is - the person who SETS policy, because others will most likely just follow the rules.  You have to get hold of the bog dog, and get them to agree to modify their policy if you can prove to them that  rosin's not toxic.  Probably help to get the commitment first, then show them the MSDS. Might have to go to someone on the state level.

Guitar strings are a lot  more toxic than rosin (garrote). I wonder if they allow them.

fiddleplayer2 - Posted - 12/08/2011:  06:15:02

How about chalk as in black board. It might work.

Me and my cousins use to chew the sap of sweet gum trees. no taste but as long as you kept chewing it was like regular gum in your mouth.

( FP2 )

Christy - Posted - 12/08/2011:  08:20:57

Here's an MSDS: sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924840

It classifies rosin as a health hazard of "2" (Intense or continued but not chronic exposure could cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury), but it might actually might be helpful in convincing the authorities that rosin is pretty benign stuff.

Although it states that rosin can cause irritation to the skin and lungs, the serious hazards (and, therefore, the rating) come from what it breaks down into at high temperatures--as it does when used in soldering metals. If it's not heated, it won't harm you unless you are allergic to it and are exposed to a lot of it. Which I'd bet is not going to happen if you are a guest of the penal system.

eric marten - Posted - 12/08/2011:  09:05:36

Not directly responding to the toxicity issue, but the side issue of allergy (probably two ends of the same spectrum), I've had to deal with rosin allergy my whole life.  I've settled on Kolstein Dark Rosin -  best quality of any rosin I've used, and hypoallergenic, and low dust.

wilhelm - Posted - 12/08/2011:  09:28:01

I imagine their policy has less to do with rosin than it does with preventing other substances from being smuggled in to the prison disguised as rosin.  Never seen it in person so I had to Google black tar heroin to see what it looked like.  From the images online, it might be able to look like a dark rosin with a little work.

wilhelm

fidnaz - Posted - 12/12/2011:  13:13:15

Never had to try anything else so there's no way to know, but if we're looking for something sticky and non-toxic, sugar comes to mind. I'd get a cheap bow and try to "rosin" it with one of those big hard-candy lollipops. If it doesn't work, it would at least be water soluble and should wash out with water. If it does work, the next problem will be keeping the ants out of the fiddle case.

Best would be to get the authorities to keep the rosin and let him use it under their supervision whenever he gets a chance to play. If I was running the place I'd prefer the guys spend free time with music rather than learning other things like faking drug tests and breaking into cars. Good luck with this; jail is tough duty for everyone involved.

OldNSlow - Posted - 12/12/2011:  15:18:42

Somehow, sugar doesn't seem like the ideal substitute for rosin.  You might be able to "sweeten" up the "rosin" by licking it, and get a sugar kick, but I am betting that whatever you managed to get on the bow would probably melt as it heats up from use.  The cheap bow wouldn't be the problem.  The fiddle strings probably would.  He is better off having somebody advocate what wilhelm suggested.  Cons are awfully creative in getting contraband into the prisons, and they probably don't want to take any chances.

Edited by - OldNSlow on 12/12/2011 15:19:19

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 12/13/2011:  04:14:42

Well what did the old timers use for rosin...back when they made pocket knife fiddles and didn't have access to much manufactured stuff... Just a hunk of tree sap????

OldNSlow - Posted - 12/13/2011:  07:16:31

I think that rosin has been around for darn near as long as fiddles.  I figger the old timers used rosin, even if they had to boil down some of their own.  Had a friend who found a fiddle that was last seen about 1902 or 3, when the house he lives in was first built.  Someone had stored the thing in the attic behind a ton of junk.  Fiddle was in horrid shape.  Bow was a wreck.  Had a ball of rosin in the case with it.  The rosin seemed to survive best of all.

billkilpatrick - Posted - 12/13/2011:  08:01:55

baseball pitchers use a bag of rosin to keep their fingers dry and maintain grip. if the prison has a baseball or softball team, you might try the sports angle:

cf.mp-cdn.net/d8/67/7404002476...80e52.jpg

petunia - Posted - 12/29/2011:  11:09:16

Great answers. Thank you. Especially good idea to identify decision maker and having MSDS info sent from credible source.

WoodshopFiddler - Posted - 12/29/2011:  16:04:27

quote:

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Originally posted by woodwiz

..... It might be best to find out who the decision maker is - the person who SETS policy, because others will most likely just follow the rules.  .....

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I'll bet he's a banjo player or worse.........a harmonicist