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Hi,
For those having trouble getting your finishes to dry, on any day over 65 degrees, put your stock outside in bright sunlight. The UV light will speed up the polymerization and cure the finish faster. Modern store bought BLO is pretty dirty linseed oil mixed with solvents. It is not what was called BLO in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Moreover, the linseed oil finishes used in those centuries were oil-varnishes or linseed oil cooked and mixed with driers, not pure oil finishes. The old gun makers were not going to take months to finish their guns ending with an oil finish that was also poorly weather resistant. I do not care for polyurethane or urethane finishes alone. They seem to sit more on the surface, have a plastic look, and do not highlight figure in the wood as well as oil varnishes and polymerized oil finishes. However, urethane or polyurethane mixed with linseed or tung oil is a very good finish. In penetrates more deeply than urethane alone and dries quickly depending on weather. A good mix is 25% oil, 25% polyurethane, and 50% mineral spirits. I used to use tung oil as the oil component. Here are guns finished with that mix:
You can control the gloss by the amount you build it up on the surface and by rubbing it back with Scotch Bright pads. It is a very weather resistant finish as well. I used it while I lived in SE Alaska because the cost of flying or barging in materials like finishes was very high so I wanted to use products readily available in local hardware stores. I currently use Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil with the emphasis on "polymerized", which is a heat treatment designed to speed up drying. I used it before moving to Alaska but it was too difficult to get there so I used the oil-polyurethane mix. Since moving to Vermont I can easily get S-W tung oil again.
dave
For those having trouble getting your finishes to dry, on any day over 65 degrees, put your stock outside in bright sunlight. The UV light will speed up the polymerization and cure the finish faster. Modern store bought BLO is pretty dirty linseed oil mixed with solvents. It is not what was called BLO in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Moreover, the linseed oil finishes used in those centuries were oil-varnishes or linseed oil cooked and mixed with driers, not pure oil finishes. The old gun makers were not going to take months to finish their guns ending with an oil finish that was also poorly weather resistant. I do not care for polyurethane or urethane finishes alone. They seem to sit more on the surface, have a plastic look, and do not highlight figure in the wood as well as oil varnishes and polymerized oil finishes. However, urethane or polyurethane mixed with linseed or tung oil is a very good finish. In penetrates more deeply than urethane alone and dries quickly depending on weather. A good mix is 25% oil, 25% polyurethane, and 50% mineral spirits. I used to use tung oil as the oil component. Here are guns finished with that mix:
You can control the gloss by the amount you build it up on the surface and by rubbing it back with Scotch Bright pads. It is a very weather resistant finish as well. I used it while I lived in SE Alaska because the cost of flying or barging in materials like finishes was very high so I wanted to use products readily available in local hardware stores. I currently use Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil with the emphasis on "polymerized", which is a heat treatment designed to speed up drying. I used it before moving to Alaska but it was too difficult to get there so I used the oil-polyurethane mix. Since moving to Vermont I can easily get S-W tung oil again.
dave
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