raw linseed oil

[david32cal]

i may have asked this before,dont remember  i have several bottles of artist grade raw linseed oil,can this be used as a wood finish or is only boiled linseed oil used for wood. what else could it be used for...thanks!

[cb]

n it's natural state no - it would take too long to dry - it needs to be heat polymerized and then if have rosin is added it will make a very nice period finish:
http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vo ... 52-1.shtml

The white lead added as a dryer is not 100% necessary, but can be easily home made using lead and some vinegar - white lead is that whitish "crud" that you often find on old balls - also known as sugar of lead and it was in fact used as a sweetener by the Romans......

[david32cal]

thanks for the info CB!

[cb]

You are most welcome - BTW - I boil my raw linseed oil in an old pot on an electirc burner - that way there is no open flame - an old crockpot/fryer works well too if the heat will go up to 500°F.

[pathfinder]

We used to call that Long oil in the restoration bizz. 3rd generation finisher trained in the "Old" way's. My Dziadek made all his stains and varnishe's and we even made our own brushes,nobody wanted to bring their dog's over,they would leave with a bald spot!

The stuff you can get commercialy is fine,just dont hurry ANYTHING!!!! It's mostly about application. I'm able to apply polyurathane that looks EXACTLY like 25 hand rubbed coats of BLO. SLOW,THIN,SPARINGLY! By the way,back when poly's first came out it was like BLO only with lead acetate and flax seed oil rather than linseed oil. Hard as a rock,good only for floor's. Now it hard to say WHAT'S in it,too many chemist's involved now with all the long polymer technoledgy.(wish there was spell check!)

I thin the first half a dozen coats of BLO 1/2&1/2 with turpentine,then full strength after that.

[cb]

By the way,back when poly's first came out it was like BLO only with lead acetate and flax seed oil rather than linseed oil

FYI - flax seed oil and linseed oil are from the same source the flax plant seed the only difference is due to the manner of extraction....

Linseed oil is a yellowish drying oil derived from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant wher flaxseed is obtained (Linum usitatissimum, Linaceae). It is obtained by pressing, followed by an optional stage of solvent extraction. Cold-pressed oil obtained without solvent extraction is marketed as flaxseed oil. It is suitable for human consumption (though not recommended for cooking) and is used as a nutritional supplement which is high in omega-3 fatty acids, especially alpha linolenic acid, similar to those found in fish such as salmon.

http://www.flaxseedshop.com/content/Linseed-Oil.asp

Modern hardware store boiled linseed oil has never been truly boiled (aka heat ploymerized), but has managnese driers added. As for early gunstock finishes oil alone was seldom (if ever used - no documentation I know of for oil finishes on gunstocks until the mid 1800's) - they generally used varnishes of either linseed oil based or spirit based varnishes as noted in the link I posted.

While it's true that many modern finishes can mimic the look of the old finishes, some of us "purists"    prefer the old ways as much as possible - IMO neither way is right or wrong , just different.......

BTW - I too am a third generation wood worker, although due to health reason I do mostly leather and beadwork work these days

[pathfinder]

And I must say your leather and bead work is incredable! I sure being in a family of woodworkers as I am Chuck, sometimes ya just have to show off and challenge your family members,(11 of us in the biz,cousins and uncles). While I use BLO from the hardware store,adjusted in shop of course,the other finishes are fun to exeriment with. Ever French Polish a concert Grand Piano? In black? Ya havent lived till ya have!!!!

With all the advances in finishing technology,the "Old" way's are still the best. Hard to find "organic" varnishes anymore. They were and still are the best. By the way, the old varnishes were applied by hand,not brushes,on smaller item,like gun stocks,at least in MY family.

Again Chuck,your work is FANTASTIC!!!!!