Boiled Linseed Oil and Danish Oil Finish

[Chowmi]

I am experimenting with several different finishes over Aqua Fortis stain in preparation for my Chambers Early Lancaster.  As such, I mixed some Boiled Linseed Oil and Danish oil to stain my "experiment gun", a Kentucky Pistol.  Jim Turpin used it in one of his videos, but did not specify the ratio of BLO to Danish.  I've used about a 50-50% mix, and have been hand rubbing it in.  It takes forever to dry, and looks great when wet, but has taken many many coats and I still have yet to get a good hand rubbed oil look to it.  I'm not going for a shiny, modern look, just for more of an authentic sheen.
My questions are:
1) Has anybody tried this mix, and at what ratio?
2) How many coats has it taken?
3) Do you do any sanding, steel wool, or cloth rubbing in between coats or on the final coat?


In the meantime, I plan to do a test blank on curly maple with the following finishes:
Track of the Wolf Traditional Oil Finish
Permalyn
Chambers Traditional Oil Finish
BLO/Danish
And possibly, Tung oil and/or Danish oil on their own.
Any experience or advice with these is welcome, as all I have ever used are modern finishes/varnishes.
Cheers,
Norm

[g rummell]

Try some Teak Oil.
I've always had good hand rubbed results with it. First soak the wood with it and wipe dry in 1/2 hour. Then soak the wood again and wipe dry in 15 minutes. Let dry for about 12 hours and continue to apply thin coats about every 12 to 24 hours until you get the results you're looking for. I usually hand rub the finish shortly after each coat soaks in the wood. The more you rub the better she looks. No sanding and no steel wool between coats!

[moleeyes36]

A gunsmith and gun maker friend of mine put me on to a product from Brownells that works really well over curly maple that's been stained with Aqua Fortis.  It's called GUN SAV'R Hand-Rubbing Gunstock Finish and is a Tung Oil/Urethane hand rubbing finish.  It worked very well for my last project and really gave the stripe almost a 3D look with only 3 coats.  I just rubbed in each coat with my fingers, gave a light pass over the stock with 600 grit paper after the first and second coats were dry and then gave it light rubbing with rottenstone and mineral oil after the third coat was dry.  Not much work involved really.

Mole Eyes 

 

[Kermit]

BLO doesn't like to dry/harden. Even mixing with a "Danish oil," it may be painfully slow. This is what Japan drier is good for. I used to do traditional boat work, and mixed up "boat sauce" recipies using things like BLO and Stockholm tar. Japan drier REALLY helps.

[Acer Saccharum]

BLO takes FOREVER to dry if put on thick. Actually, I put a small puddle on a piece of wood in the window, and three years later, it's still not dry.

If you put it on microscopically thin, it will dry. But it's not a hard finish, and it's not waterproof or wear resistant. But it can be touched up anytime.

Tom

[Dennis Glazener]

Made up a batch of BLO, Turpentine and it called for a "few" white corroded lead balls to be "simmered" in the mix for a few hours. It still didn't dry well, probably not enough lead in it. I added a few drops of Japan Dryer and it made a great finish. Gave some of it away and everyone loved it. One of the days I will mix up another batch.

As far as Danish oil, why mix it? I have used it many times as it comes and it make a great looking finish, not sure how it hold up in the rain/snow since I am a fair weather shooter and don't have to worry about it.
Dennis

[Hungry Horse]

Tom's right about BLO not drying well, without some sort of drier, or as I do mix it with turpentine, and melted bees wax. It will watermark if not combined with something. It can also add a lot of weight if you just keep slathering it on open grained wood like walnut.

                         Hungry Horse

[Acer Saccharum]

Thin, it will dry; thick, it will not.

Even with drier in it, if it's applied thickly, or not allowed to cure fully between coats, it will evermore be tacky and soft.

[Jim Kibler]

One word...  SUNLIGHT 

One day in the sun might be equivalent to a week or two sitting inside to dry.

[Rich]

I like tried and true oil finish. You can get it at woodcraft. They make one with bees wax in it and one without.

[Kermit]

Jim's absolutely correct. Ultraviolet helps BLO to polymerize or kick. It's why I prefer to use tung oil finishes. If you buy 100% tung oil (or China tree oil) you can mix up a good finish with that too. Turps and Japan drier. Sunshine still helps.

Most of what comes in cans as tung oil or danish oil finishes are really wiping varnishes. If the container says "tung oil finish," it's using tung oil as one of its ingredients.

[Dphariss]

If people expect BLO to dry like varathane its not going to do it.
Its not supposed to. The way it sets is what gives it its durability. Nor is BLO, other than the harder varnishes which were rare on firearks, supposed to be a BUILT UP FINISH. If its tacky then the finisher does not know his business.
 
Further, broken record time, BLO as purchased is PAINT THINNER and LOG OIL not stock finish.
THEN is made in larger batches it also seems to require re-heating or or it will dry slower after a year or two in a jar.
To avoid water spotting BLO will need some resin added. Rosin can be used and Benzoin works but these have to be added to the oil in the proper manner to get best results.

I use BLO that I cook up to fill Walnut. Slather on a heavy coat of think oil, too thick to really drip works good and leave it in hot sun and I can do two coats a day. Does it "dry" no, but it will get rubbery and then its time to take it back to wood and repeat. Cold weather will hamper drying somewhat and a UV light might be needed to do a coat a day. But it will fill American walnut in 3-4 coats in most cases.
Maple will look pretty good with a seal coat and a second coat the next day or thin oil or thin oil with resin. Though it may day 2-3 days to a week to look its best. It will also tend to dull slightly when unused but the shine will return with handling and touchups are too easy.
Linseed, unlike many modern finished does not dry by evaporation of petroleum solvents as most stuff bought in Home Depot or even many stock finishes being sold do.  Given reports from friends if I were going to buy a finish I would buy Chambers oil. Add sure Turpentine to make a seal coat and then finish the stock with the straight oil.



Seal coat and one thin top coat of a soft LS varnish.
Over Nitrate of Iron on plank sawn curly maple.


Dan

[Chowmi]

Thank you for all the replies. 
I thought I would try out the mixture just for kicks. 
The comment about putting it in the sun is particularly helpful, as it has been in the dark in my garage for 3 weeks now.
The reason for adding the Danish Oil was two-fold: To add water resistance, and because that's what Jim did in the video.
After all the replies, and a fair amount of reading other posts, I'm really leaning towards Chamber's Oil Finish.
The nice thing for me is that since I have only built "assembly" kits (Thompson Center etc.) so far, I am building a TOW Ohio Rifle as a learning project for the Chambers Early Lancaster.  This all means that I have a long long time to experiment on blanks with finishes before applying one to a new rifle.
I'm off to draw file the barrel now, and rococo carving lessons tomorrow...
Cheers,
Norm

[Pete G.]

After applying a coat of BLO wipe it down well with a paper towel. Do this and don't neglect the sunlight and you will start to see a pretty good finish in a few days. Afterwards use the same technique as part of the cleaning ritual. After a while you will see the soft antique looking finish that you are looking for. DO NOT forget to dispose of the paper towels properly, otherwise you may gain experience with the miracle of spontaneous combustion.