What is the best BLO job?

What a great quote it is, I'll have to remember it!!!

Mind you, once a day, if you have pure BLO without dryers, make sure they are very thin coats and you let the wood out in the sun on a warm day...

Lou
 
Claven, at that point, who cares?
"...pure BLO without dryers..." Pure BLO doesn't have dryers. It doesn't need to dry in the sun either.
"...cut it with turpentine..." Or a bit of Varsol(mineral spirits). Wood is wood. Use the same products and techniques used for fine furniture. Even for Beech or Birch.
 
sunray said:
Claven, at that point, who cares?
"...pure BLO without dryers..." Pure BLO doesn't have dryers. It doesn't need to dry in the sun either.
"...cut it with turpentine..." Or a bit of Varsol(mineral spirits). Wood is wood. Use the same products and techniques used for fine furniture. Even for Beech or Birch.
Click to expand...

Great clarification Sunray.

What I meant to explain was: "pure BLO, you know, the kind that does not have dryers..."

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=45105&cat=1,190,42942

More commercial stull, like Circa1850 Danish oil, has dryers that help it cure quicker, but the downside is that it does not flow inside the wood as deeply.

The sun thing - it's just a bit quicker, that's all... but don't do like me once, lay the parts on y our table outside on a windy day. Dust will cover your wood parts and that's kind of disapointing. (Ah, the pain involved in some learning).

I would also add that if BLO is too thick, it's probably because it stayed open too long at some point, or is really really old - better get some that truely has the consistency of oil, that rubs in easily. If I remember correctly, the mix with a thinner is to help it seep in deeper, saturating the wood deeper. Also from memory, at the factories I think they dipped the wood in large really hot baths of the oil. The end result was wood completely saturated all the way in, therefore there was little nature could do to make it rot. It apparently did not smell too good in these rooms. :runaway: I'm not taking my authenticity operation to that level, no way! :D

Lou
 
The problem most people have is through applying too much oil. I take a drop and rub it into the wood until thin and consistent coverage over the piece is achieved then hang and dry from 24 to 48 hours.

For stocks with wide wood grain I will eventually polish the finish (after about 5 applications) with 400 grit wet / dry sand paper and turn the BLO into a slurry to fill the pits in the grain.

Then hang and dry

Apply one or more coats (again very sparingly) and you have a very nice BLO finish that people can't believe. Certainly my WO is always very impressed by my Ranger CNo4Mk1*.
 
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