Boiled linseed oil BLO

[hackberry jake]

I picked up some BLO yesterday. It's one of the few finishes I haven't tried out yet. What are u guys' thoughts on it? Is it best for interior or exterior? I have seen people mention finish mixs. What's your mix? Are there certain circumstances where it is by far the best choice? Pros and cons?

[Jay C. White Cloud]

All we use is "Land Ark," which is a natural product and have used it on everthing from barns to floors,  Butcher Blocks to chairs.

It is a "secret" blend and processing of:

Boiled Linseed Oil

Tug Oil

Citriss Oil

Pine Rosine

Bees Wax


I can't speak more highly of the LandArk, but I like only natural finishes and don't have much use for any of the urethanes or modern finishes.  They seem to be a pain to apply in most cases, and stripping them is not fun.  Most of the well know companies (Formby's Watco) that sell things like Tung Oil often don't even put that in their products any more.  I didn't know that until I read their MSDS sheet.  Most of them are 60% to 70% thinner and support dryers.

So my vote would be go natural for most things and Boiled Linseed Oil is a great finish all by it's self.

[Trahlin]

I use it for plainsawn red oak, interior projects.  It pops the grain pattern without darkening too much.  I cut it with lacquer thinner, and brush it on.  Then wipe it down after 10 minutes.  Lacquer thinner makes for faster set, and cuts down on the stickiness.  I give it 24 hours and wipe it down again with a cotton rag.  Imparts a nice color.  I then spray a couple coats of lacquer and call it good.

On outdoor applications, it is easy to use, but will darken over time.  Offers no protection from UV degradation.  Surface stays soft and somewhat gummy.  In some areas of the country people used to mix it with grahpite powder to make a black paint.  Used on exterior window trim on the houses.  It was cheap and easy. Would not set up like regular paint, and would allow opening of the windows. Poor people got poor ways, but it worked. 

[Dan_Shade]

I like to mix it with spar varnish, and mineral spirits to make a wiping varnish.  wipe it on, let it sit 20 minutes, and wipe it back off, give it 3 coats and call it good.

[Axe Handle Hound]

I use a really light coat of boiled linseed oil as the first layer of finish on most all of my interior projects that I intend to laquer, shellac, or varnish.  As others have said, it really higlights the figure of the wood and gives the project a little something extra.  I don't normally use it as a final finish because it really has no protective qualities, but I do keep a jar of beeswax/BLO mix that I made up for projects that won't be subjected to abuse.  If I want an oil finish I'll go for an oil/varnish blend product like Waterlox, Formby's, Watco Danish oil, etc.

Jay C.- Are you sure that your product uses Boiled Linseed Oil or could it be just plain linseed oil?  The presence of metallic driers in BLO would kick it out of the natural category in my mind.   

[Larry]

I use 1/3 blo, 1/3 mineral spirits, and 1/3 varnish.  Increase or decrease varnish to suit needs.  More varnish will increase water resistance which isn't great.  Wipe on, let sat for 15-20 minutes and wipe off.  Repeat 3 or more times.  On open poor woods the first and sometimes the second coat will bubble up and you will have to wipe off again...and again.  If you don't those little bubbles will make a shiny speck when finish dries.

I see Dan beat me to it while I was peckin this out.

The down side is it is a very labor intensive finish.  Not good for exterior but I do use it on tool handles...shovels, cant hooks, etc.  I like it on some furniture, I guess it depends on which side of the bed I get up on as to what I use it on.  It has a bad smell for a long time.  It offers little protection from moisture of any kind.

One of its great attributes is ease of repair.  Some folks say to wipe on a new coat every year if used on kitchen cabinets.  I keep an old glue bottle filled with the mix, mostly used on tool handles when they start looking shabby.

[Tree Feller]

There is a rule-of-thumb for applying oil finishes...

One coat per day for a week
One coat per week for a month
One coat per month for a year
One coat per year forever

BLO is great for popping the grain when used beneath a film finish. It offers little or no protection by itself so it's not a good choice for high-use items. Outdoors, when exposed to the elements, it's practically useless unless you like the weathered wood look (gray).

As Larry noted, when mixed in thirds with a solvent and a varnish, it makes a good wiping varnish although I prefer Minwax wipe-on poly to any home-brew concoction I've used.

It is great on tool handles.

It's not actually boiled anymore but as AHH noted, it contains metallic drier to speed up the drying process.

[Road Runner]

What is the difference between boiled linseed oil and regular linseed oil?  Also what are common uses for the two other than what has been mentioned?  I have heard of using linseed oil on wooden tool handles, but don't recall hearing which one.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hello AHH,

It's take twenty years, and I still only have gleaned some of the old fellow's alchemy that makes it.  First you can buy it in the pure form without citrus oil.  He gets upset if you use mineral oil or something else as a thinner, but I guess that it has been done with success.  We follow his rules, 99% of the time.

Now when he buys the different elements they are all raw and food grade.  So in the beginning the flax oil (linseed) is raw.  He then "cooks," it all up, but apparently it makes a huge difference, when what gets added, to what, when, and at what temperature.  Also the temperature of some of the elements have to be at a certain temperature for a set amount of time, then blended. After that it is a mystery, there is some filtering and other blend ratios for certain application.  For exterior work they add borates as a fungal, pest, and UV inhibitor.

Hello Road Runner,

Flax see oil and linseed oil are the same thing.  Flax seeds are excellent food supplement and for cooking.  In it's natural state, it is a "drying" oil, in other words, left open to the air it will, in time, catalyze on it's own and harden.  Other botanical oils don't or only partially.  When this oil, and others (soybean, tung, etc.) are heated, boiled in some cases, you are just speeding the time it will take for it to polymerize.  This was (is) a closely guarded secret among traditional finish blenders, because the temperature, time and even altitude can effect the outcome.  That is why some of the traditional Asian lacquer formulas are still not completely understood.  Some of them are over a thousand years old and tougher than anything we have made as a modern finish.

Many manufactures put additives into there "Boiled Linseed," oil.  These are chemical based dryers, and are not as expensive as flax oil, so thinning with them makes a less expensive, (inferior,) product.  They are also toxic.

You can use just raw flax seed (linseed) oil as a finish, or boil it yourself, to make boiled linseed oil, but it is a process.

Regards,  jay

[Tom L]

linseed oil is the main oil in art quality oil paints. takes months to cure, oxydize, and after a long period of time (months)would be considered dry. adding dryers to it will increase the dry time. not on topic but just a example of other uses of linseed oil.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Tom L.

Good information to share on this post topic I think.  However, I have made my own oil paints as did my mother, who taught me.  Pure linseed (flax oil) will dry pretty quick with warmth and if you boil it properly it drys even quicker. There is no need to add dryers to it, unless you need something that will dry in just a few minutes or hours.  The trade off is some pretty nasty chemicals both for body and environment, by adding dryers to it.

Some of the red and blue range pigments seemed to retard drying, but my mom said I just didn't blend correctly.  Her oil paints, depending on heat and humidity, were touch dry in about 24 hours on average, sometimes quicker.  I wish now I had learned more.

[wdncno]

Just watch your rags with linseed oil. they WILL spontaniously combust.  Always hang  them outside to dry.

[scsmith42]

Jake, +1 for the Land Ark finish; I've used it and like it a lot.  It is a bit warmer in terms of color than just BLO.

I've used several different BLO based mixes, including the following.

1.  1/3 BLO, 1/3 tung oil, and 1/3 citrus solvent (d-limonene).  This is pretty my my current finish of choice for shop projects.
2.  2/3 BLO, 1/3 turpentine.  Another good "shop finish" if you like the smell of turpentine.  This is a traditional mix
3. 1/3 BLO, 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 varnish (or poly).  Another good wiping finish; the varnish / poly allows a thicker film to develop.  I've used this on some furniture projects with good success; topcoated with shellac and satin poly.

BLO would not be my first choice for outdoor projects exposed to moisture.  Epifanes is about as good as you can get for outdoor protection.