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

If the linseed oil in the Mona Lisa ever dries the paint will crack. After 500 years, museum curators aren't overly concerned about it.

In the 1950's, the panel was reinforced with a flexible oak frame. The light oak could have been stained with Minwax, but the conservators decided to darken it with an authentic ammonia fuming process. Of course, the only way to do it right was with horse urine.

Of course Mike, Horse Urine is the only proper way to replicate the original, but it also has to be applied with a genuine beaver-skin brush.
And by the by--this past spring I planted the walnut tree from which I'll cut the blank that I'll finish with this mystical concoction. (just experimenting, don't worry)

Every time I see a thread pertaining to use of linseed oil, or BLO, or concoctions of BLO plus various additives and driers, I wonder why anyone would bother. We all know there are commercially available wood finishes that are vastly superior and we are hard pressed to find many custom stockmakers of note who use homemade BLO recipies. Then I recall that I have used several home brewed mixes for slow rust blueing and browning solutions. So I guess there must be some personal satisfaction from using a homemade stock finish, or perhaps duplicating an original factory finish for a proper restoration.

I'm not worried. I expect to always learn something from your adventures. Though I am glad we didn't meeet until after your rock climbing days.

Keith, that's exactly it--I've been using more modern finishes for several years and I've found a way to reasonably easily put a good, hard, durable finish on a gun that I really like--but I (and I think others) keep striving for that modern finish that is as close to the look of a true oil finish as possible. So, I am trying to experiment with "true oil finishes" to learn a bit about them, and possibly learn something in the process and maybe down the road find a good way to integrate them. I've played with it a little, but mostly I'm asking questions so that I can try some stuff out and learn as I go...
Mike, any time you want to go ice climbing you know where to find me. No experience necessary.

...Just some sturdy ropes.

JC

I don't have just one finish and most of what I do is restoration work in small amounts on any one rifle.

I do not use boiled linseed oil anymore for anything. I have gone to raw linseed oil or "Stand" oil which I think is the closest to the original "Boiled", today boiled has a bunch of chemicals in it for drying.

I guess it depends on how much of a hurry you are in as to the amount of drier you add.

Regardless of what mixture (the books are full of them) that you use get a pain of glass and put some on the glass then date it and see how long it takes to dry.

About every classic pre-war custom sporting rifle has a linseed finish of some sort or another. Each maker used a different recipe and contrary to popular belief they all dry.

Some of you may know or remember Jack Dockweiler. He is still gunsmithing and stockmaking at his shop in Redlands CA, and all he uses is pure linseed oil that he gets from Brownell's, unless the customer requests otherwise. No additives or dryers.

Strange that slacum isn't "a patch" on modern polyurethanes and poly/oils and yet it's a pretty good patch on almost any finish that needs a bit of local correction. Venice turpentine is resin of the larch or some such softwood and readily available from nag shoppes as per Philbert. It's supposed to be the drier or accelerator or whatever in the mix but Peter Harris will tell you about vinegar and axle grease rubouts. Flake carnauba is also available; haven't seen the liquid form.

jack

The Gun Digest 55th edition (2001) contained an article on oil finishing stocks. Author purported it to be an Old English formula as I recall. He finish sanded the wood with a very fine grit paper. Mat'ls then used in the finish were "Lemon Juice" "Egg Whites" & "Artist's Grade Refined LO". These were used seperately, not mixed together, but I would have to go back & re-read to recall the order & process of each. Final step was grated beeswax melted in a jar of pure turpentine. Have kept meaning to try this, but haven't done so yet.