doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How much Japan Drier in BLO finish?

I'd like to play with some Boiled Linseed Oil as a finish. I know lots of people love it and lots of people hate it, but I want to try it and decide for myself.
I know many people add some Japan Drier to it--One formula I have heard is to thin it 50:50 with turpentine and then add a "dash" of Japan drier. For those of you who use Boiled Linseed oil as a finish, do you use the drier, and if so how much? Any tips as I start to play with this stuff a bit?

I do. No more, than 5% of drier and never thin it. Thin BLO 50-50 its for painting, not for stock.

David, I have successfully used a mixture of 100grams of BLO, 14grams of
turpentine and 5cc's of liquid carnauba wax.
(If you want some wax tell me where to mail it).

I have also experimented, with good results wit a mixture of BLO and Minwax
Antique Oil. Proportions of 70/30 respectively, but you can play with them and
see how it goes.

JC

Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but there's no way I'd let you send a little piece of wax all the way from Chile! At some point maybe I'll try that--I can get carnauba wax easily enough, do you melt it in or does it dissolve on its own?

David, it would be no problem. It is in liquid form -its actually water soluble- so
it very easy to mix in.

JC

That's a new one, have not seen liquid carnauba before. Let me ponder this before I put you through any trouble.

I have 1 vote for not thinning it but adding up to 5% japan drier, and another for adding carnauba wax.

Anyone else do anything to their boiled linseed oil?

David,

If you want to use BLO, you might try Winsor and Newton Refined Linseed Oil. This is artist's oil and is avaialble at Joann's. I've found it dries much better than convential BLO. (Seems I read somewhere that Japan Dryer contains a carcinogen.) The BLO (RLO)/turps/carnuba mix is much like the original Slacum oil. I've used this with and without Venice turpentine which was in the original recipe. I think I prefer it with the Venice turpentine which is available at the better stocked Tack stores. I use pure carnuba in the solid form and melt before mixing it into the warmed BLO(RLO)/turps. Back in the day they mixed it all up in a double boiler type arrangement. Search slacum oil here and you'll find a more detailed thread.

Have fun.

Phil

for the amount I'll use I'm not overly concerned with it being carninogenic...based on family history there's likely nothing I can do about that, so at the very least my guns ought to have nicely finished wood, right?

I did do a search for slacum and got a lot more than I had found before.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=207796&page=1

Reading through some of the posts made me realize that I may not be really understanding this oil process as much as I thought. I saw reference to venice turpentine ("turps", right?)being used to enhance drying...while I had thought turpentine was merely a thinner. Do I have my volatile organic concoctions mixed up?

It also appears that the more traditional recipes do not use a drier like Japan drier per se...although with the sense of humor some of the Brits exhibit I couldn't really tell what was what as there were some vague references to cobalt drier, which I had thought was more appropriate for a tung oil finish??

If anyone has the patience to hold my hand through trying to better understand what all of these ingredients are and what they accomplish, or has a link or reference I might look at, I would be grateful.

Thanks very much!
Dave

David,

Turps (my slang for conventional turpentine) and Venice turpentine are two different compounds. Venice turpentine is commonly used to condition horses' hooves and is much thicker. As an aside, I've tried the Venice turpentine substitutes but it is not nearly as effective as the real stuff. E-mail me your address and I'll send you some. Cobalt drier is another drier that is avaialble at Joann's or artist supply stores. I've not used it. Read and try different mixtures to see what works best for you. Have fun!

One thing nice about the Japan Drier- I have had success with it when I got over enthusiastic with the BLO and put a second coat on before the first had dried. I had a finish on an old garand that wasnt drying so I put on a light coat that I added a couple drops of Japan drier to and it set right up. Didnt have to strip the stock.