Boiled Linseed Oil - What to cook it in?

[ironwolf]

   In the Bivens book "tips and tricks"  He mentioned that his favorite "ole time" finish was a commercial product that goes by the name "Lin-Speed". I've been using it since the early 70's and still do if I'm looking for a traditional, non poly finish.  Brownells has it and, I think, Midway.
  I think it's like the old recipe of BLO, turp and shellac with some sort of drier.  It has to be applied exactly like Stophels' description 'very sparingly and allowed to dry'.  And it does take a long time. You can stand by the old formula of;  One coat a day for a week, provided it dried, then one a week for a month, then once a year.  Mike Brooks once described it as "chippy" but I've never had that problem.  Maybe applied too thick.
  I've stuck with this stuff for so long mainly out of laziness, but you guy's have given me the bug to boil some oil. I feel like "taking the effort" as Dan mentioned in his latest post.
  I've got a gallon of "triple boiled" I could use.

  How do you age Turpintine?

  Great post, everyone.
  Thanks,  Kevin

[davec2]

Gary,

Thanks !  I just ordered a copy.  I am interested in anything Bill Knight writes.

Dave C

[Joe S]

How do you age Turpintine?

Aging turpentine is not too difficult.  I got it right with only a couple of tries.  Here’s what you do – take the lid off your can of turpentine, and stick it out in the barn for a couple of months.  A piece of cheesecloth over the opening will help keep bugs and dust out.

I doubt you varnish has shellac in it.  Shellac is quite soluble in water, so it makes a poor finish.  It is, however, quite hygroscopic, and swells when exposed to water vapor.  My understanding is that the traditional use of shellac is to put a coat of shellac on the wood, then varnish.  Varnish is the opposite of shellac – it is not soluble in liquid water, but is relatively permeable to water vapor.  Using both shellac and varnish gives you gun stock the maximum protection from changes due to absorption of water vapor, and protection from liquid water.  Most folks seem to use a shellac ratio of 1 lb shellac per gallon of alcohol. 

[Dphariss]

  In the Bivens book "tips and tricks"  He mentioned that his favorite "ole time" finish was a commercial product that goes by the name "Lin-Speed". I've been using it since the early 70's and still do if I'm looking for a traditional, non poly finish.  Brownells has it and, I think, Midway.
  I think it's like the old recipe of BLO, turp and shellac with some sort of drier.  It has to be applied exactly like Stophels' description 'very sparingly and allowed to dry'.  And it does take a long time. You can stand by the old formula of;  One coat a day for a week, provided it dried, then one a week for a month, then once a year.  Mike Brooks once described it as "chippy" but I've never had that problem.  Maybe applied too thick.
  I've stuck with this stuff for so long mainly out of laziness, but you guy's have given me the bug to boil some oil. I feel like "taking the effort" as Dan mentioned in his latest post.
  I've got a gallon of "triple boiled" I could use.



  How do you age Turpintine?

  Great post, everyone.
  Thanks,  Kevin

I used a lot of linspeed at one time. But its too pale and at the time I didn't now how to get the most from it. It also goes to waste to fast the way its packaged.
Dan

[J.D.]

I do.  Try Dixons.  They have it from time to time.  The book covers a lot of interesting topics, but it is not really helpful on varnish.  If your interests are limited to making BLO and varnish, you can get all the information you need off of this site and the archives. 

I have a copy too, bought at Dixon's, probably 5 years ago.

My impression is that the booklet is a summary of experiments, primarily failed experiments, associated with period gun finishes, but, IMHO, it left me  with as many questions, after reading, than I had before.

God bless

[Stophel]

 
  How do you age Turpintine?

I buy it from Wood Finishing Enterprises...

They say one of the best ways is to make an apparatus where air will bubble through it.  I figure put the turpentine in a loosely covered container with a fish bubbler running air through it would work fine.  Haven't tried it yet.