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I don't see a lot of difference in that image. Is the long soak on the right?
Boiled Linseed Oil?
- Thread starter steve-in-kville
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oops, I'm sorry, should have labeled/explained.
The two lower pieces are the two halves of the long soak. The smaller ones above are the two halves of the 2-3 hour soak.
Looks to me like the week in oil pretty much soaked through the wood. Got to try this next time I make a cutting board, though the food safe stuff would be expensive in soaking quantities.... maybe put it in a ziploc?
My dip bucket is 4 gallons of oil/thinner in a 5 gallon bucket.
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OK. Yeah, big difference. Thanks for clearing that up. I'd be curious to see the difference between soaking in 50/50 and soaking in straight BLO.
Usually I soak for a day or so after hanging is done, I've been thinking more in view of water exclusion than anything else - I have on occasion left axes and mauls outside where I split wood, and then forgotten them and left for the weekend, only to be caught by a rainstorm. Careless I know, but I tend to get busy and forget stuff I should remember (going to blame that one on middle age
)I'd bet if the hang is any good, the wedge won't work out due to the oil, even if its saturated and slow to cure. Next one I hang I was planning to soak a week - I'll let you know how it lasts, though it might take a couple years
Square_peg - I'd bet the thicker oil will take a lot longer if it soaks through at all. That real boiled linseed I linked to earlier is about like 90 weight gear oil, then this stuff in my dipping bucket is more like 10 weight or less. More like 3 in 1 maybe. It's just raw oil with driers and a bunch of thinner....
Great information "mete">> and believe me I'm in no way trying to derail this most interesting thread. But I do have one question in regards to linseed oil. A few years back I got a video and information packet from the US Forest Service that was done by a guy name Bernie Weisgerber. He was certainly quite the expert on different axes and other edged tools. During the one part of the video where he shows how to hang a new ax handle he said that "raw linseed oil" was preferable to boiled linseed oil. Now I don't remember the exact specifics as to why that was but I do remember that he had certain reasons for using the raw linseed oil.
He also had a liquid compound for swelling the wood in the head or eye part of the ax handle that helped to swell the handle tightly in the eye of the blade. I believe that Bernie's book that came with the video is still available in pdf file form if anyone is interested.
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What was edited from "an ax to grind" is that the pure raw linseed oil is cut 50/50 (or so, depending on how dry the haft is) with pure gum terpentine. This helps with the penetration and drying time of raw linseed oil. The reason not to use BLO is the personal safety issues. I follow this with some softened bees wax.
This is an excellent thread.
This is an excellent thread.
You got your answer stright from the source Old Axeman himself.
Interesting note on the pure gum spirits speeding up drying time of raw linseed oil. How much does it speed the process? I've seen raw linseed oil can take up to a few weeks or even months to fully cure.
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I've got a haft going right now with RealMilkPaint's 50/50 blend of pure tung oil mixed with citrus solvent. My first go round with this product was a disappointment - very long drying time. But this time I've been giving it a shake before each use. It's drying in 24 hours now. The 3rd coat went on tonight and I'm planning on using at least 6 coats. I'll let you all know how it goes.
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It is hard to answer how much the pure gum turpentine speeds up the drying process, to many variables. You will notice a big increase in penetration though. I only leave the mixture on the haft over night, wipe the excess off, then do it all again 2-3 more times. I finish with a final coat of Clapham's Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish. This is just the way I have done it for years but there are a lot of good ways to finish a haft.
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I use a beeswax salad bowl finish. Several coats. I like to invert newly rehafted axes in BLO for a couple of days, but have always worried about the fire aspect. Thanks to Old Axeman, I now have a new thing to try, without fear of spontaneous combustion.
Square_peg, I was wondering how this went for you as I am considering going this route. Also, I noticed the following line from their website. For dense hardwood, a 2 part Citrus Solvent to 1 part Pure Tung oil is recommended. In your opinion, is this necessary or just the 50/50 blend? Thanks!
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boiled linseed oil like riflemakers use to use looks more like gummy honey than what we expect to see. Some of the real traditionalist like the House bros still use it. You can also take blo put it in a jar,cover with cheese cloth and in a few months you will have the equivalent of traditional blo to. Just basically linseed oil with more of the moisture evaporated out.
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Hi, Java Dude.
The finish came out fine on that one. You know, it didn't really build a finish as much as the Fornbys Tung Oil (wiping varnish) that I have used in the past. I put on 6 coats to get what I thought was a good finish. It soaked in pretty good for the first 3 coats. I was hoping it will build more of a finish.
Thats not exactly right.
Its not evaporated moisture, but its beginning to polymerise because its exposure to oxygen.
None the less. Its handy in that thickened state as a rubbed on coating. Finished curing fairly quickly, albeit does not penetrate deeply.
From what I researched it isbhighly recommended to use "raw lineseedoil" instead of "boiled lineseedoil" (which contains chemicals to dry faster).
The downside is that raw lineseedoil will need way longer to try but is healthier and better for the wood.
I also thought about mixing raw lineseedoil with beeswax?
The downside is that raw lineseedoil will need way longer to try but is healthier and better for the wood.
I also thought about mixing raw lineseedoil with beeswax?
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This could make a nice finish coat, but as a treatment it would have to be dangerously/burning hot to penetrate properly. There are better ways.
I put a hammer in the oven once at the "WARM" temp to heat it up prior to hitting it with beeswax. It was a bit too hot to comfortably hold and the end of the handle checked a little from the heat. I think that the best way is to choose your favorite penetrating oil combo and if finishing with beeswax just do it the old fashioned way and rub it in. It's just for the surface mostly anyway.
I did some more research and this seems to be the best possible method which is similiar to yours:
- 100% natual & raw lineseed oil:
Put very light coats on the wood and put the wood in to the sun, preferable during warm/hot weather so that the lineseed oil will get deeper into the wood. Maybe heating the wood is a good idea too. It is best to make many thin layers/coats.
- 100% natural & raw heated lineseed oil (this is not the typical "boiled lineseed oil"):
In my country & language this oil has a different name and I can assure you that the typical "boiled lineseed oil" is not what you want at they contain chemicals to thicken and are in fact not boiled or heaten up. How ever, I am talking about a 100% natural & raw lineseed oil that gets heaten/boiled up until it thickens. This is used (maybe together with normal raw lineseed oil) to give a nice protective and good looking finish. Use it as last layer on your wood.
I have no idea how this type of lineseed oil is called and where you can get it. In my country there is probably only one or maybe two brands that actually produce it without any chemicals and translated to english it would be called smth like "stand oil".