doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com A linseed Oil Thread

As an aside, my grandfather restored several turn-of-the-century steam automobiles back in the 60's. I remember him keeping a small saucepan full of linseed oil simmering on a hot plate (talk about a fire hazard!) with various walnut brake lever handles, tiller handles and other oddments suspended in it. After a couple of days of this he would set them aside to dry and then polish them on a soft muslin wheel. This method of ebonizing produced some stunning results.

Soak was a poor choice of words, they kept putting on oil until it would take no more. I have been surprised by the number of early sporting rifles and high-grade shotguns that have no oil in the inletting, just raw wood.

The only folks who I know immersed the stocks was the Armory, they did that in hot raw linseed oil then hung them up to dry. A certain percentage were then submerged in water and check for swelling, warpage and such.

I have a book, THE ARTIST'S HANDBOOK OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES, by Ralph Meyer, left over from my art school days. In it Mr. Meyer devotes several pages to the history and different types of linseed oil, including boiled and stand oil. He evaluates their drying and aging properties and how they pertain to painting but much of the info would be useful here, such as color changes due to age and elasticity.

Much like olive oil, the best linseed oil (which is pressed from the ripe seeds of the flax plant) is what is termed "cold pressed", lower yield but vastly superior quality. Hot pressed is subjected to extreme pressure & heat, inferior quality.
Google "cold pressed linseed" and many art supply stores now carry it.

According to Mr. Meyer, boiled linseed is a misnomer, it is simply heated with driers to thicken it.

Stand oil is linseed heated to 525˚- 575˚ and held there for several hours. An internal change takes place, a polymerization, which thickens it Nothing is added to or lost from the oil. It yellows less with age than raw linseed. I imagine the quality of stand oil would depend on the quality of the original linseed from which it was made.

BTW, the copy of THE ARTIST'S HANDBOOK OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES I own is the 5th Ed., it's still the latest edition. Earlier editions are available on Abebooks for as low as $1.

Some years ago Fine Woodworking magazine did a test on the moisture repelling capabilities of different finishes. I don't have the results at hand but I remember that linseed oil did little to keep out moisture from wood finished with it,but,as I said,I don't have the particulars of the tests with me. I finish most of my walnut furniture I make with linseed oil and or varnish and I like it because it is easy to repair and looks good.Use the best quality you can find to avoid any chance of yellowing with exposure to light,probably not too much of a problem with most firearms,but furniture is often exposed for hours to sunlight through windows.

Would it be heresy to ask about Tung oil? It is a drying oil with good penetration and is almost always described as superior to linseed oil in the woodworking literature. It doesn't seem to darken like linseed but it does impart a bit of a "golden" hue to the wood. It also seems to be much more waterproof (or resistant) than linseed.

Jerry Liles

Found that book still in the library and its called Knife Making by Bo Bergman.
Even if you have no interest in Knife making I think you will appreciate knives more if you read this book.
After re-reading this book I am struck again by how interesting his words are.
For the many types of wood he uses for handles including Birch Bark he uses half linseed oil and half gum turpentine.
He says the oil seeps down into the wood and forms a protective wall against damage. The oil oxidizes in air to form something called Linoxyn.
There are several pages on finishing wood including using Tar.
Hope you can find this book in your own local library.
Regards.

Thank-you, I'll try to find a copy of the book.

I bought some stand oil the other day and have some on a pane of glass to see how long it takes to harden. I also put some on an old 1903 dry military stock, time will tell. Consistency is about like Karo Syrup.

Michael, Please keep us posted on the drying time and hardness. Glass is about the best way to tell.
Thanks, steve

The stand oil dried on the stock in about four days, on the glass eight days. The stuff is heavy so it's hard to get a thin coat on the glass. I just started another test with raw oil and stand oil at the same time and tried to leave just a film on the glass. The stock , an old 1903 stock, now has two coats of stand oil that are dry and it looks good. I tried some on my Krag but won't use it on any good guns until I see how it last and looks on the other ones.

Thanks Michael.
I'm about to brush in a coat of boiled linseed, with Grumbacker Burnt Umber & Burnt Sienna cut with Mineral Spirits and a drop of Japan Dryer to the checkering on the Hagn project.
I wish up both success!