Oil on Wood
One of my side lines is wood working. I have trees from my own property milled and that is what I now use for all my furniture projects. I have had a lot of other projects going on for the last year or so and my wood working projects were on the back burner. I was also letting some wood get seasoned. It is all dry now and ready to be used.
I started my first project about two weeks ago. It was a tilting mirror stand with arched legs. It was real simple and attractive, like Amish furniture.
Now here is my problem as a wood worker and what I do that makes other woodworkers cringe. I finish my products with boiled linseed oil. I should be using a special mixture I make up of lemon oil and bees wax.
To me, the boiled linseed oil brings out the warmth of the wood. It showcases the character of the wood, and it smells like an art studio. But woodworkers keep telling me that the oil draws out all the moisture and that it looks bad. I don’t agree. To me, seeing wood coated with plastics, such as polyurethane really makes me sick. So to each their own, live and let live. I use boiled linseed oil and I’m sticking to it.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 5:42 AM
15 Comments:
Have learned yet another new fact about the life of Guy.
Can you post a picture of some of your work?
Pappy, you seem hellbent on drawing out all of the irate anal-retentive woodworkers today, huh?
Mmm, wood chip smell. :)
Beth, yes, sooner or later.
No auntie, I actually fear them.
Jaggy, are you getting homesick?
Do you use the "rule of two" when you apply it with your bare hands? I also like tung oil for porous woods like oak. Doesn't bleed as much.
Though it would be a way of getting a new shop, I do soak all used rags in water and store them outside.
Hey guy, do you ever mix your boiled linseed oil with fine sawdust and rotten stone? I have had excellent results with that on hardwoods.
What is Rotten Stone?
The "rule of two" is the old-time way of applying boiled linseed oil. You rub it in with your hands "twice a day for a week, twice a week for a month, twice a month for a year, and twice a year for life". Minwax to the rescue.
You bet, I wouldn't want to hang onto a commissioned piece for an extra five weeks and then give orders to the buyers. I may try lemon oil with bees wax melted in this year. Any thoughts?
Beautiful and enduring. No water stains, either. But I still like tung oil.
I love to use different oils and I think linseed is great. To get the best penetration try a 50/50 mix of oil with mineral spirits. This will allow deeper penetration and the mineral spirit will just evaporate away with time. My final step is pure oil till the wood wont accept anymore. My favorite oil is Tung but hey different strokes.... my site is shavedwood.com and the cradle is in linseed oil.
Nice work. OK I'm going to try tung oil. Where exactly does tung oil come from?
I like 1/3 linseed, 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 lemon oil for recovering nasty pieces of furniture left to rot in barns.
Thanks, Matt. I'll try it on the next project.
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