Praise for BLO for metal finish!

[Beerhippie]

Boiled Linseed oil, that is,

I went camping the other day and realized that I had finished this shovel:





about a year-and-a-half ago! It's been living on the rack since then--through an inland northwest winter and two summers, with some camp use--mostly latrine duty--tossed in! Now, we're far from the rust belt out here, with very little use of salts on the roads, but still! Only that one little spot of rust on the top "ear"!

IIRC, I gave it two or three coats of BLO, thinned 50-50 with mineral spirits, and nothing since (except for the bug guts you can see from the last trip).

 

[danielbuck]

do you apply it to room temperature metal? or heat it up first?

 

[four.cycle]

thanks! maybe I should have used that on those snips I cleaned up the other night.
I put a coat of carnauba wax on them, because they're going to live out near the Pacific.
maybe I'll strip 'em down and try the BLO instead. still have two other pieces from out there I have to clean up.
so you're up in the Baker/La Grande area? lovely area. went up into the Eagle Cap area a couple times, and the Wehana-Tucannon from the other side.

 

[captaindiode]

Just be extra careful with you rags. BLO on rags can spontaneously combust due to the Japan Drier.

 

[RTM]

To really finish the wood off nice, a 1/3 each, by weight, mix of BLO, beeswax, and turpentine, melted together outside, preferably in a double boiler, makes for a tool that feels really nice in the hand. I use it on woodworking tool handles, and outdoor tool handles . I apply with a Scotch rite pad, grey or maroon, whatever is handy.

 

[Old tool guy]

I have done that, but i heat the metal with a propane torch first. Get it too hot to touch, then brush on the oil with a disposable brush, liberally. Wipe it off when cool, and you get a dark, almost black shiny finish.

I have heard any oil will work, yo7 could save some from an oil change.

 

[Old tool guy]

I have done that, but i heat the metal with a propane torch first. Get it too hot to touch, then brush on the oil with a disposable brush, liberally. Wipe it off when cool, and you get a dark, almost black shiny finish.

I have heard any oil will work, yo7 could save some from an oil change.

Now that i think about it, the end result is similar to a well seasoned cast iron frying pan.

 

[LopezBart]

BLO + beeswax + turpentine was/is a standard blacksmith's finish. Also, pine tar + turpentine + BLO works as well. A bit of japan drier will make it harden faster. Both of these can be applied equally well to wooden handles, of course.

 

[Beerhippie]

do you apply it to room temperature metal? or heat it up first?

It's a shovel head. Without removing the handle, I don't think heating to any significant degree is a good idea.

thanks! maybe I should have used that on those snips I cleaned up the other night.
I put a coat of carnauba wax on them, because they're going to live out near the Pacific.
maybe I'll strip 'em down and try the BLO instead. still have two other pieces from out there I have to clean up.
so you're up in the Baker/La Grande area? lovely area. went up into the Eagle Cap area a couple times, and the Wehana-Tucannon from the other side.

Enterprise, OR--about an hour-and-a-half NE of LaGrande, on the road to nowhere.

To really finish the wood off nice, a 1/3 each, by weight, mix of BLO, beeswax, and turpentine, melted together outside, preferably in a double boiler, makes for a tool that feels really nice in the hand. I use it on woodworking tool handles, and outdoor tool handles . I apply with a Scotch rite pad, grey or maroon, whatever is handy.

We used to use that for a deck finish! But with the results I'm seeing from just thinned BLO on steel, I'm perfectly happy skipping the bee's wax. Have you priced bee's wax recently? How do I even know it's real bee's wax? Honey is hard enough to be sure of. I guess I need to talk to my friendly local bee keepers.

 

[RTM]

Have you priced bee's wax recently? How do I even know it's real bee's wax?

Yup, still free for me. My friend is an apiarist, so I get several pounds of honey and paper Dixie cups of beeswax everytime he raids the hives.

For you, if find an apiarist. May not be free, but you know the source.

And I only put the beeswax on the handle, feels better than BLO.

 

[Beerhippie]

Just be extra careful with you rags. BLO on rags can spontaneously combust due to the Japan Drier.

Yeah, I took shop class, too.

Fire Marshall put this down to a pile of rags used to apply BLO-based finish:



but I still think it was arson. USFS Wallowa Zone office, Enterprise, OR. July 2010. There had been two unsuccessful arson attempts before this.

 

[PFSard]

BLO + beeswax + turpentine was/is a standard blacksmith's finish.

Sounds like the combination for a concoction I made to put on my wood furniture and cabinets about a year ago. Seems to work well in AZ's dry climate.