[Woodcarver] Linseed Oil

[ellenwoodarts]

Merrilee,

A little information on Linseed Oil:

Linseed oil is a derivative of Flax Seed, and is available as Raw, Boiled or
Stand Oil.

Raw - is not recommended as it can take weeks to cure.

Boiled - has chemicals added (called dryers) to accelerate curing, and is
the recommended linseed oil to use.

Both raw and boiled linseed oil have a golden color which will change the
color of the wood slightly when it's applied, and it will continue to darken
a little over time.

Stand Oil - is primarily used by artist who do oil painting on canvas. It's
linseed oil which has been heated to a high temperature under conditions
which excludes oxygen. Stand oil is more expensive, but it will yellow less
than other linseed oils. I personally use only boiled linseed oil.

Here's where many people have problems when using linseed oil; it must
penetrate the surface of the wood to dry. If you have any build-up on the
surface of the wood, it will get gummy and never dry properly. Apply the
linseed oil, let it penetrate for about 15 minutes, and then remove all the
superficial oil with a rag and dry brush. If you're going to use only
linseed oil as the finish on your carving, repeat this process every 24
hours for about 3 coats.

For best results use only fresh boiled linseed oil. If the container has
been opened it can become thick and gummy over time. Don't use it in that
state because it will never dry properly. 

Linseed oil does have an odor which may be offensive to some people;
however, I feel the results are worth the odor. If you don't like the odor
of linseed oil, you can use pure Tung Oil in place of the linseed oil. Tung
oil also has an odor, but I don't feel the odor is as strong as linseed oil.
I've used tung oil on furniture but not on any of my carvings, however, when
I complete the human face carving I'm working on now, I'm going to use Tung
Oil with the artists oils to see which of the oils (linseed or tung) I like
better. 

Hope this has been helpful.

 

Ev Ellenwood

 

P.S.

Kathy, check my DVD "Beginning Woodcarving" on www.ellenwoodarts.com
<http://www.ellenwoodarts.com/>  and see if this is what you may be looking
for.

 

Bill, because of your efforts, the site continues to get better and
better.Thanks!!!

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/woodcarver/attachments/20070118/87636b9c/attachment.htm