Is oil ALWAYS beneficial to wood? How about ancient looking wood?

C

CubeLW

Joined
Jul 16, 2014
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Well I was jus strolling about a scrubland area and I happen to see this beautiful piece of wood deep in a bush. I went in and pulled it out carefully ( this is florida, and at that time I had a face to face with a snake like 20 minutes prior to finding the wood. We both ran for our lives lol) anD it appeared to be almost handmade, more like a walking stick or a wizards staff. I sanded it up and it's a sweet piece. Now to the point, would applying oil to it be beneficial or detrimental to it? Could it rot the wood (have no idea about the characteristics of ancient wood)? Will upload pics of it. Thanks
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I don't think oiling it will do any harm especially if it is old or dead wood. I wouldn't apply oil to fresh wood but Im not an expert. I think wood needs to be seasoned in some way before it can be finished. There are others out there who will give u better info than me but I don see an issue I'd its older wood. I have some old military rifles that came with oil soaked stocks, i mean SOAKED. WD40 is good for getting grease or cosmoline off but oil soaked wood is hard to get dried out again but there is really no point. Oil soaked rifle stocks hardly ever rot or dry out if they are coated in the appropriate oil. I have a nice black walnut hiking staff that i use BLO on. It doesn't smell bad and leaves a great finish
 
I think of oil as nourishment. Your new stick is undoubtedly very thirsty. I'd probably hit it with linseed oil slightly thinned with a little turpentine so it soaks in deep. Follow up with regular linseed oil.

Down there where it is so dry things don't rot. Here in Washington you would never have found that stick as it would have rotted away years ago.

I often times use oven cleaner to get heavy grease and oil out of saturated military rifles. If you live someplace with hot sunny days just leaving it out on a table will draw the oil out so you can just wipe it off.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully my pictures are there. Receptions bad at the moment and im not sure
 
Cube, better stop there if it is a nice piece of wood. Put it in the house and let it set for 2-4 weeks to "normalize". If you don't get it to match your atmosphere and you oil it, it may crack and epoxy does not stick well to oiled wood. I but my wood locally for ye olde gun & rifler making. Too many times I've pushed the issue and had to buy new wood because of the cracks. Just my professional opinion.
 
Bookie said:
Cube, better stop there if it is a nice piece of wood. Put it in the house and let it set for 2-4 weeks to "normalize". If you don't get it to match your atmosphere and you oil it, it may crack and epoxy does not stick well to oiled wood. I but my wood locally for ye olde gun & rifler making. Too many times I've pushed the issue and had to buy new wood because of the cracks. Just my professional opinion.
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Oh cool. I'll let it normalize then. Thanks!
 
When a guy runs a business for 40 years and each item sells for 1500 to 2100, you learn not to make mistakes when each piece of wood costs from 60 to 290 a piece.
 
Cool wood, Cube. I have lots of issues with wood handles and whatnot shrinking when I bring them inside for a while. Even though it's so humid around here, the A/C tends to run all the time on account of the heat, which means it's actually really low humidity inside the house. I agree with Bookie, Bring it in and let it acclimate for a while before you do anything with it.
 
Hard to tell but kind of looks like cedar just from the shape and grain. Cedar is pretty much bug and rot resistant for many years until it begins to lose its natural oils. Your kitty is watching you;)
 
very cool stuff, I love found staves and walking sticks like this and have a collection myself from my own forest , though none are drift wood, its mainly beech trees that died and other young hardwoods that lose the growing game to the canopy.
 
Yep quite cool, eh Philllll and Gehazi? Haven't seen another piece like it before. And yea Ndog I kinda thought it was cedar too because it has a reddish tinge too it like the cedar pencils I used in elementary school.
 
CubeLW said:
Yep quite cool, eh Philllll and Gehazi? Haven't seen another piece like it before. And yea Ndog I kinda thought it was cedar too because it has a reddish tinge too it like the cedar pencils I used in elementary school.
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That was my next question but didnt know if you cut it to expose anything yet. It has a great shape to it. It looks pretty old. You can usually tell by cutting a section across it. There will be a distinct white band and a red core. The larger the red core is the younger it is. After a while it will completely turn white and thats when the oils have dried out and it will start decaying if not rehydrated. Cedar also has very very stringy bark and makes a heck of a lot of fine dust. Great for cordage and firemaking. One spark will usually get it going.
 
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