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Linseed oil finish
- Thread starter hardykev
- Start date
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Kevin: I have found that Boiled Linseed will soak in in a matter of minutes on the first coat so plan on applying several the first day and allow to dry overnight. Apply some more the next day and see where it goes from there. The wood will tell you what it wants.
The next coats will be determined by how fast it "drys" where you live. This is really a function of how warm and how humid the air is and the brand of oil your using so I can't give a "once a day" or a "once a week" to you.
After it really starts to look like it is "on" the wood and not just "in" the wood, rub off as much of it as you can before applying the next coat. This is best done with burlap but that stuff is getting hard to find. If you can't find burlap, use a material which is course or rough to the touch.
How long do you keep this up? That depends on what you want it to look like. It will never be a "high gloss" finish. The more coats you apply, the "deeper" it will look but it will be a "semi-gloss" finish at best. You should be aware that Linseed oil never really "drys". It gets somewhat hard after a month or two but it never forms a truly "hard surface" like True Oil can so it cannot be rubbed out to a high gloss type finish (which I like on some guns but most don't).
Linseed oil by itself is not water-proof. Rain or sweat will cause spots to appear. A little more oil will fix these spots as good as new.
To help the finish resist water spotting, plan on applying a good paste wax when you decide it's done. It will need waxing at least twice a year IMO.
Have fun!
The next coats will be determined by how fast it "drys" where you live. This is really a function of how warm and how humid the air is and the brand of oil your using so I can't give a "once a day" or a "once a week" to you.
After it really starts to look like it is "on" the wood and not just "in" the wood, rub off as much of it as you can before applying the next coat. This is best done with burlap but that stuff is getting hard to find. If you can't find burlap, use a material which is course or rough to the touch.
How long do you keep this up? That depends on what you want it to look like. It will never be a "high gloss" finish. The more coats you apply, the "deeper" it will look but it will be a "semi-gloss" finish at best. You should be aware that Linseed oil never really "drys". It gets somewhat hard after a month or two but it never forms a truly "hard surface" like True Oil can so it cannot be rubbed out to a high gloss type finish (which I like on some guns but most don't).
Linseed oil by itself is not water-proof. Rain or sweat will cause spots to appear. A little more oil will fix these spots as good as new.
To help the finish resist water spotting, plan on applying a good paste wax when you decide it's done. It will need waxing at least twice a year IMO.
Have fun!
Kevin a word of caution using linseed oil. Soak your oily rags in water for a long time after you are done using them, read the warnings on the can carefully. Spontanious combustion is a reality with linseed oil, I almost burned down base housing the first time I used linseed oil because I didn't pay attention to the cautions. Take care, Rick.
quote:Originally posted by DEADDAWG:
Spontanious combustion is a reality with linseed oil. Wow, I had no idea...
And to think that all of those oil paintings on canvas used linseed oil as a thinner...
Maybe it's how much you use too...
Spontanious combustion is a reality with linseed oil. Wow, I had no idea...
And to think that all of those oil paintings on canvas used linseed oil as a thinner...
Maybe it's how much you use too...
JOHN L. HINNANT
45 Cal.
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- May 29, 2004
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Greetings Kevin,
If your stock is walnut,please reconsider NOT using linseed oil of any type. I quit using linseed 30 plus years ago. Over a period of time, linseed will oxidize walnut and turn it almost black. Tung oil is much better, also GB linspeed, and it is compatible over tung oil. Flecto-Varathane Penetrating Oil Sealer is a personal favorite. Linseed will also oxidize excessively on cherry, but does not seem to affect maple. The old timers used linseed, because they did not have anything better. Today, we do.
Best Regards, John L. Hinnant
If your stock is walnut,please reconsider NOT using linseed oil of any type. I quit using linseed 30 plus years ago. Over a period of time, linseed will oxidize walnut and turn it almost black. Tung oil is much better, also GB linspeed, and it is compatible over tung oil. Flecto-Varathane Penetrating Oil Sealer is a personal favorite. Linseed will also oxidize excessively on cherry, but does not seem to affect maple. The old timers used linseed, because they did not have anything better. Today, we do.
Best Regards, John L. Hinnant
Guest
Its all I use with a tung a few coats later and hot melted bees wax by hand. Tru-oil Pooh-ha I like the real thing,poly coat go get a plastic inline!!!!
Had a neighbor a few years back, went to his house one night and he smelled something funny (no it wasn't me). We went to the basement and it was coming from the linseed oil rags he used the morning of that day. They were getting very hot, when he threw them outside and they hit the fresh air the burst into flames and burnt. That was close and it was good he was home at the time. ::
JOHN L. HINNANT
45 Cal.
- Joined
- May 29, 2004
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- 711
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- 2
Greetings Fowler,
Do you mean you use linseed oil first and then tung oil over the linseed oil with a hot bees wax to finish up?
John L. Hinnant
Do you mean you use linseed oil first and then tung oil over the linseed oil with a hot bees wax to finish up?
John L. Hinnant
"The old timers used linseed, because they did not have anything better. Today, we do."
We also have centerfire repeating breachloading rifles which they did not...(VBG) No flame John I just could not resist, I purposely blackened a walnut NW gunstock with asphaltum just to get the "oldtimey" look.
We also have centerfire repeating breachloading rifles which they did not...(VBG) No flame John I just could not resist, I purposely blackened a walnut NW gunstock with asphaltum just to get the "oldtimey" look.
JOHN L. HINNANT
45 Cal.
- Joined
- May 29, 2004
- Messages
- 711
- Reaction score
- 2
Greetings TG,
When I build a muuzzle loading rifle for myself I will use the most highly figured wood I can afford After spending a 100 plus hours on a project, it does not make senses to me to use a finish that negates what I am trying to show off.
Beautiful wood is a weakness with me, and I am not trying to duplicate a rifle that looks like it spent 20 years of non-care. No, what I want is a rifle that looks like it was purchased from the shop of Jake and Sam Hawkens or Melchoir Fordney yesterday.
Examination of well preserved originals show many of the old time gunsmiths used finishes other than linseed oil. Varnish was not an uncommon finish. It would seem that some of the oldtimers were looking for a better finish also.
Master craftsman John Bivins (and other masters today) used better finishes and was always on the look-out for something better. His experiences with finishes was published in detail in the RIFLE MAGAZINE sometime during the 1970s and titled, "London Oil Finish".
I have no quarrel with anybody who is determined to use linseed oil or engage in a debate over what the oldtimers had or did not have to work with. That has no interest for me. My purpose is to build a rifle that will retain its beauty for years in the future, not make it look like it is 150 years old the day it is finished.
Not everybody is aware of the detrimental effect linseed oil has on various woods, particularly walnut. With this information they might choose to use another finish.
And last TG, no offense taken; no offense intended.
John L. Hinnant
When I build a muuzzle loading rifle for myself I will use the most highly figured wood I can afford After spending a 100 plus hours on a project, it does not make senses to me to use a finish that negates what I am trying to show off.
Beautiful wood is a weakness with me, and I am not trying to duplicate a rifle that looks like it spent 20 years of non-care. No, what I want is a rifle that looks like it was purchased from the shop of Jake and Sam Hawkens or Melchoir Fordney yesterday.
Examination of well preserved originals show many of the old time gunsmiths used finishes other than linseed oil. Varnish was not an uncommon finish. It would seem that some of the oldtimers were looking for a better finish also.
Master craftsman John Bivins (and other masters today) used better finishes and was always on the look-out for something better. His experiences with finishes was published in detail in the RIFLE MAGAZINE sometime during the 1970s and titled, "London Oil Finish".
I have no quarrel with anybody who is determined to use linseed oil or engage in a debate over what the oldtimers had or did not have to work with. That has no interest for me. My purpose is to build a rifle that will retain its beauty for years in the future, not make it look like it is 150 years old the day it is finished.
Not everybody is aware of the detrimental effect linseed oil has on various woods, particularly walnut. With this information they might choose to use another finish.
And last TG, no offense taken; no offense intended.
John L. Hinnant
Guest
Yes thats right tung over the linseed latter and beeswax sometimes. the tung and linseen can be rubbed in by hand the same way. The tung is water proof and don,t forget under the buttplate and barrel with tung to seal out water.After a year or two of rubbing both here and there it will smooth out. After I clean my rifle I even rub Cleanse Oil on the wood or sometimes bore butter. They have that glow of a oringinal. And touch up easy.
Kevin, I read a similar discussion on the American Longrifle B/B last year, and the consenus is that linseed oil alone is not a finish. :nono: It looks great, but can't stand weather. Chambers' oil finish is far better and weather proof. :: Jim Chambers' website.
I like the spar varn and linseed oil finish my self, I Believe it is very close to a finish that Bivens has used, I would like to use more varnishes in the future but also plan to use scrapers only so I think an oil finish of some sort may be better particularly on walnut as I do not know how well one can fill the pores without abrasives.
