BLO on a turning?

Don't know about BLO, but tried one coat of tung oil on some sweetgum bracelets then finished with crystal coat and buffing and the grain came out better than with the crystal coat alone. Tung oil was all I had around to try.

Hi Mac, I guess that most quality farm tool handles are fiberglass now days, but I remember when the wooden handles of every axe, rake, post hole digger etc. we owned had an obligatory soaking with B(boiled, not chemo'ed)LO. Not sure why, probably to waterproof or to prevent splintering cracks or maybe to just look good or because the almanac said to.

B(chemo'ed)LO is in many products we use for coating (seeping into) wood. Used alone, it will pop the grain, but at the price of yellowing and remaining greasy for a long time. I add polyurethane & mineral spirits to BLO to make a shiny durable finish. I wonder about the differences in being polymerized by boiling vs driers.

Maybe George or someone here could discuss the differences between raw, boiled and chemo'ed flax seed oil. I mean in the turning shop, not in the clinic. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Quick search produces a lot of information, like:

Is that a final finish, Darrell, or do you topcoat or buff?

I buff my stuff and I'm concerned about the BLO drying enough to be "buffable"..

mac

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Thanks, Darrell.. I'll give it a try with some of this Russian Olive..

mac

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Hello Arch,

Here is a link to an article I wrote on oil finishes that addresses many of your questions...

Hello Mac,

In the past I used BLO on a few projects, but I was never really happy with the result. While Linseed Oil is used in many finishes, it has some characteristics that are less than desirable. Like every finish, there are trade-offs.

The only BLO type of finish I use now is a soaking type of finish, where the pieces are submerged in the mixture (BLO with a few other finishes) for several days, and then allowed to fully cure before buffing.

I once forgot about a small piece in the soaking bucket for more than a year. The saturation of the finish for this long produced some interesting results... Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Thanks, Steve.. I think I'll stay with Danish oil and buffing and save the BLO for flat work.. (Enjoying your newsletters, thanks)

mac

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in 1966 in High School shop I made a walnut cabinet.. the finish I talked my shop teacher into allowing me to use was 1/3 BLO, 1/3 varnish, and 1/3 turpentine, mixed..

one coat a day for a week (dont leave puddles on the wood-wipe if needed after..15 minutes or so), 1 a day for a month.. it never got 'shiny' as such, but it sure has held up great.

now, curious thought.. take this mix, 'CAREFULLY' heat this a bit on a hot plate, and wipe on the turning, let soak a bit, then if it all soaked in, add a bit more then buff.. might repeat a time or 3, perhaps over a day or so.. just musing..

--Shiva--