Randy Roeder... where are you??

The ages old linseed oil controversy continues! Just in case anyone forgets
my rantings... the only reason Linseed oil was used by the 'oldtimers' is
cause it was cheap and it was available. If they had had access to modern
finishing technology, they would have avoided it like the plague and gone
with either shellac or a true varnish. Linseed oil, as mentioned, is a
lousy vapor barrier, it stinks forever, it will bleed all over in warm
weather, it will stick the plane to surfaces when it bleeds and it will
take all those nice clear beech stocks and make them look like a Kmart
special. If you want the wood to swell to close up some splits, try a
diluted varnish (ie; wiping varnish) that will dry and form a suitable
skin. Or simply wipe or brush on some orange shellac...  my favorite finish
for wood planes. Ever look at an old untouched plane that was heavily
treated with linseed oil? The ends are all gunked up from exudate and the
grain is almost nonexistant.

Nuff said. Randy... your turn.

At 9:16 PM -0500 6/15/99, Douglas S Caprette wrote:
>On Tue, 15 Jun 1999 13:31:21 -0700 Ron Hock <ron@h...> writes:
>>> The most reasonable proposal I've seen so far calls for 1/2 linseed
>>> oil, and 1/2 mineral spirits. I'll end -up a couple of the junkers,
>>and see what happens. details and results to follow....
>>
>>First, I question the addition of the solvent. if the goal is to fill
>>the pores of the wood with something to retard the movement of water
>>(and thus the movement of the wood) you'd want all the solid material
>>in there that you can get. Besides, the solvent is going to take a
>looong
>>time to get out.
>
>Agreed.  (then again, what do I know?)
>
>>
>>Second, Why linseed oil? It's lousy at stopping water vapor and if you
>>let this process (the ooze) happen passively it seems to me that
>>you'll only fill the largest pores while letting zillions of little ones
>stay
>>mostly clear
>
>To the contrary the nature of capillary action is such that the narrowest
>pores will be better filled that the wider ones.
>
>Linseed oil is used because it is all the old-timers (in Europe) had.  I
>think I'd stick with tung oil.  Regardless, it is not being used in an
>attempt
>to seal the wood, it is being used to totally impregnate the wood.
>
>. If you can put the plane into a vacuum tank (like a
>>paint pressure pot,) pull a modest vacuum on it, wait an hour or two,
>then
>>replace the evacuated air with the oil, you can penetrate several
>>inches of any wood with total saturation of the oil.
>>
>
>Sure.  But it is a lot easier to just put one end of the wood in oil and
>leave the other end out in the air and let the oil wick up through it.
>Try it with a piece of scrap.  It's pretty neat.
>
>>If you must use the linseed oil, I'd suggest using it straight up. But
>>if you want the best water vapor barrier this side of some plastic
>>resin, shellac is king. It's not the best for liquid water but is
>>reportedly so for water vapor. Hey, all those lac bug larvae can't be
>>wrong.
>
>How do you saturate a plane with shellac?  I'd think the best you could
>do
>is coat the upper surfaces, leaving the sole uncoated, and that sounds
>like a real good way to warp the plane.
>
>I had thought that having oil continue to seep out of the wood
>for the next 25 years was an advantage to the process, not a
>disadvantage.  I don't think the small amount that would get transferred
>to the workpiece would cause any subsequent problems with finishing.
>Silicon oil--yes.  Linseed, no.
>
>We've heard from one fellow who did two planes wihth unboiled linseed
>oil 25 years ago and hates the result.  But a couple of monthe ago we
>heard from another who routinely does it.  Maybe it's largely a matter
>of taste?  I'm not going to argue (well, maybe I just did) with those who
>have more experience than I.  But it seems those who are experienced are
>not in agreement either.
>
>
>--
>Regards,
>Douglas S Caprette, Greenbelt, MD USA
>"There is no way to peace.  Peace is the way." -- Ghandi
>
>--

Gary Roberts <groberts@s...>
Dedham, MA...Antique tools, Art Pottery, Hong Kong cinema, what else is there?