Drying treated canvas?

[Minuteman]

I made a diamond fly typa tent thing over the summer and treated it with a 1/2 and 1/2 mineral spirits/ linseed oil mix. That was the middle of October.
How long does it take before it dries? Or will it always have that oily feel to it?
I had it hanging in the barn but the high winds we'd been having kept tossing it in the dirt so I hung it in the basement with our wood burning furnace( not up against it or anything!).
Approximate drying time?

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

I never add mineral spirits to my paint, I just use 100% Linseed oil and the pigment. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for it to dry for me depending on how heavy of a coat I have put on. From what I have from other folks adding mineral spirits will make the cloth tear or to almost become brittle. Linseed oil treated cloth can spontaneously combust, "FIRE", please leave it out side.
Jeff

 

[Minuteman]

I'm pretty sure that the whole "mineral spirits making cloth brittle" thing is bunk. At least according to a few folks that have used it on this site.
We'll see either way.
Also its only folded in half and hanging suspended from the rafters in the basement. I'm pretty sure it has to be folded up on itself in order for it to combust sponaneously.
So 6 or 8 weeks huh?

 

[bnail]

I'd worry about that fold crease. It might leak along the length of the fold. (I've had creases leak and the water drops are all arranged nicely In-line on the inside of my shelter.
I've recently seen some old utility cloth (rain covers for a Chapaeu Bras and Span Am era forage cap) and a tarp and both were increadibly light and tightly woven. After reading Mark Baker's findings and seeing first hand the pliability of these items, I've decided that my next tarp will be painted on one side using acrylic. (If it were summer, I'd do the linseed and turpentine solution with pigment.

 

Any linseed oil based product needs sunlight (UV rays specifically) to thoroughly dry.......

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

I have been going to tell you, you can get powdered pigments from Lee Vally Tools, They have all the basic colors.
Jeff

 

[tmdreb]

Try painting on another layer, but add a dash of Japan Dryer this time. That'll help with the drying time.

 

[Minuteman]

I turned the tarp over and hung it opposite side down last night.The "crease" is really more like a rolled over section, no sharp folds by the way. The bottom (now the top)was actually dripping linseed oil! So did I over do the waterproofing? I'm thinking about laying it on the floor of the garage and rubbing it down with some old towels to remove the excess.
Anybody else know anything about whetheror not linseed oil needs sunlight to dry?

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Try painting on another layer, but add a dash of Japan Dryer this time. That'll help with the drying time.

Good suggestion but it will not help the linseed oil already on it Maybe next time he makes one?

Minuteman, it might be time to start over. If it is still dripping oil :shocked2: it might not be dry until next summer if then. It does indeed sound like you may have overdone it Try drying it in sunlight outside, some stockmakers have reported good luck with linseed oil drying that way. Whatever you do, I would get it out of the house, especially away from the furnace.

 

[Minuteman]

Well... I took my diamond out to the side yard and set it up yesterday. Nice, sunny day, little chilly with a soft breeze a blowin', figgered I'd leave it up for a week or two and see how the wind and sun helped in drying out what little oil was left.
It snowed 5 inches overnight! I guess my "dry run" turned into a trial by snow! It held up real well though. All the area underneath the canvas was snow free and looked like a fella coulda weathered the night in some reasonable comfort. The pole I used for the "plow point" had sunk into the unfrozen, wet ground some under the snow load so I just pulled it out and scooted it over a bit and things straightened right out.
A foot of snow woulda been a different story I fear. A guy would need to get up and knock the snow off periodically to keep it from smothering ya.
I dunno... thought ya'll might wanna know how things turned out.

 

[Trapper]

I used 1 qt of boiled linseed oil, 1 qt mineral spirits and 3 ounces of japan dryer all mixed together.I soaked a full sized 300 count cotton sheet from Wally world about 20 minutes. Rung it out saving the mixture in the bucket. Hung it on the line all day( 40 degrees and 20 mph winds). Hung it from the rafters that night in the garage. Temp went down into the 30's. My new ground cloth was completely dry after 2 days at almost freezing temps. I've tried this same method without the Japan dryer and it took months to dry during a really dry summer. The rifle shirt took about 2 months to dry outside. Just my 2 cents worth. Everyone who is making period oil cloth---use the Japan dryer. It makes us folks that can't wait happier! PS... I put in 1 pt of black walnut oil stain into the above mixture,I got a real nice color.
Trapper

 

[Trapper]

Minuteman, might try using my method by resoaking the canvas while the BLO is still wet. Just an idea!

Trapper