Pineknot and sal and others---Yes, fully agreed: there are two or more ways to get "there" and yes everyone has different preferences / tastes.

I really agree with the posts that describe blending TWO elements. This is what I discovered accidentally: I wanted some attributes of oil and some attributes of varnish / urethane, and the way to get there seemed to me was to combine.

As a past epoxy formulator I am keen to blends and also as a past epoxy formulator I am very alert to incompatiability issues or chemical reactions when TWO or more ingredients are combined that should not be combined...

And that was part of the reason for laying out the original post. My formula combined oil and spar varnish and I was looking to get others people's experience with such an "un-orthodox" combining and even combining of methods. (turns out of coarse it was not really unorthodox and others have been there before me... no surprise there ...

Great info so far and thanks to all. I guess what I was looking for too was how to use the linseed oil to get it to 'dry' even a bit faster so I could go over it with a spar varnish (or other glossier finish) most likely a combination of some sort. Also, I wanted to get the forum's take on the use of ALKANET and the best carrier for it.

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