# Question regarding Boiled Linseed Oil



## AlmightyOx

I am currently in the process of finishing out a natural fork that some of you may have seen already, but I am curious about a couple of aspects of BLO. I am aware that it does not coat the wood, but rather soaks into the pores, hardening it slightly. I have also read somewhere that it doesn't always produce the best shine in it's finish, and often must be polished with beeswax. I was curious, as I have no Beeswax readily available in my town, if it is recommended to put some sort of a clear coat overtop of a fork that has been soaked in BLO. Also, I have seen people say they soak their forks for anywhere between a day and a week. Does this effect the darkness of the finish it takes, or just help to strengthen the wood a bit with a deeper saturation. And as a final question, will the fork hold the color it has when it is wet with BLO, or as it dries will it lighten up to nearer the color it was before it was soaked. As a sidenote, I am using a mixture of 50/50 BLO and Mineral spirits to increase viscosity and my fork keeps floating to the top, should I turn the fork over halfway through the cycle to ensure even coverage, or will it soak into the fork completely as is?


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## abagrizzli

AlmightyOx said:


> I was curious, as I have no Beeswax readily available in my town


Are you sure? Beeswax is what women use for depilation, it can be found in any store where personal hygiene products are being sold.


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## AlmightyOx

abagrizzli said:


> AlmightyOx said:
> 
> 
> 
> I was curious, as I have no Beeswax readily available in my town
> 
> 
> 
> Are you sure? Beeswax is what women use for depilation, it can be found in any store where personal hygiene products are being sold.
Click to expand...

I may have to look a little harder, but in a town of less than 3000 people in the places I have looked so far I have had no luck. Or I could buy some online I suppose...


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## abagrizzli

Sorry, didn't realized it's like this...


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## Tex-Shooter

The color deepens with age. Rubbing with a crumpled up brown paper bag will give a hand rubbed finish. Be careful with you BLO oily rags as they can spontaneously combust in a closed container or in a pile. BLO has an enormous amount of BTU's. Even a small rag will burn a long time. This flip is about 10 years old and the color just keeps improving. -- Tex


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## Btoon84

Ox man, what's up! First off, do you have any pieces of the cedar fork that you perhaps cut or trimmed off? If so, your first round of business is to do some tests with the offcuts. You'll see how much the wood darkens with the linseed oil, it has the ability to darken and really bring out the grain with most woods but rarely some woods fall a little flat with it. I'm interested to see what the white cedar fork you are working does with the linseed oil, don't over think it. You can soak it if you want. If you think it is sitting in one spot and floating, you can flip it like you suggested, or put something heavy on it to get it down. I used to have a little dedicated BLO bucket that I'd soak frames in, the top layer will congeal but you can scrape this away. Now, I put mine in a ziplock bag with an ounce or two of BLO. (I don't measure this out I just pour a little in the bag you don't need much) I remove the air from the bag, careful not to squirt BLO everywhere and I seal the bag and rub it into the wood. Then you can let it sit a while..... then you can come back and splash a bit more BLO in there and rub on it s'more.... OR you can take it out, wipe it down with a rag and let it hang or sit to dry..... It will darken the longer it soaks. Also it will take longer to dry the more saturated it is. BLO can sometimes take several days to dry completely. I've had forks take a week to dry, depending on the natural oils of the wood. And from what I know about eastern red cedar, it is very oily and darkens beautifully with BLO! I have not bothered with mixing 50/50 mineral spirits with it. I don't see much benefit to doing this. Not nocking anyone's methods obviously. BLO is fine without anything else applied afterwords. I happen to love putting wax on my forks after a good BLO soak. The wax is applied once the fork is dry of course. But applying wax is not necessary, it is just one step further to protecting a fork and it adds a great feel. But I can say, I have several forks that are just oiled. I like the patina that builds up on a strictly oiled fork, and the oils from your hand darken it where you hold it and use it too. It's easy to spice it up with a fresh oil rub later on. If you want to finish the slingshot with something after the BLO just wait till it's dry. Use whatever you want, each one doing a different job and each one having their respective benefits. You'll find a finish you like depending on your needs. When you read about it hardening up as a good finish, it is usually being applied in multiple coats and left to dry, then another coat and dry... just adding layers of it.... It builds up. Ok, enough for now 

Have no fear Oxman just put the BLO on the dang thing and show us how it turns out! :neener:


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## AlmightyOx

Tex-Shooter said:


> The color deepens with age. Rubbing with a crumpled up brown paper bag will give a hand rubbed finish. Be careful with you BLO oily rags as they can spontaneously combust in a closed container or in a pile. BLO has an enormous amount of BTU's. Even a small rag will burn a long time. This flip is about 10 years old and the color just keeps improving. -- Tex


That is a beautiful shooter. I have disposed of my rag properly as far as I can tell. Thanks for the heads up.



Btoon84 said:


> Ox man, what's up! First off, do you have any pieces of the cedar fork that you perhaps cut or trimmed off? If so, your first round of business is to do some tests with the offcuts. You'll see how much the wood darkens with the linseed oil, it has the ability to darken and really bring out the grain with most woods but rarely some woods fall a little flat with it. I'm interested to see what the white cedar fork you are working does with the linseed oil, don't over think it. You can soak it if you want. If you think it is sitting in one spot and floating, you can flip it like you suggested, or put something heavy on it to get it down. I used to have a little dedicated BLO bucket that I'd soak frames in, the top layer will congeal but you can scrape this away. Now, I put mine in a ziplock bag with an ounce or two of BLO. (I don't measure this out I just pour a little in the bag you don't need much) I remove the air from the bag, careful not to squirt BLO everywhere and I seal the bag and rub it into the wood. Then you can let it sit a while..... then you can come back and splash a bit more BLO in there and rub on it s'more.... OR you can take it out, wipe it down with a rag and let it hang or sit to dry..... It will darken the longer it soaks. Also it will take longer to dry the more saturated it is. BLO can sometimes take several days to dry completely. I've had forks take a week to dry, depending on the natural oils of the wood. And from what I know about eastern red cedar, it is very oily and darkens beautifully with BLO! I have not bothered with mixing 50/50 mineral spirits with it. I don't see much benefit to doing this. Not nocking anyone's methods obviously. BLO is fine without anything else applied afterwords. I happen to love putting wax on my forks after a good BLO soak. The wax is applied once the fork is dry of course. But applying wax is not necessary, it is just one step further to protecting a fork and it adds a great feel. But I can say, I have several forks that are just oiled. I like the patina that builds up on a strictly oiled fork, and the oils from your hand darken it where you hold it and use it too. It's easy to spice it up with a fresh oil rub later on. If you want to finish the slingshot with something after the BLO just wait till it's dry. Use whatever you want, each one doing a different job and each one having their respective benefits. You'll find a finish you like depending on your needs. When you read about it hardening up as a good finish, it is usually being applied in multiple coats and left to dry, then another coat and dry... just adding layers of it.... It builds up. Ok, enough for now
> 
> Have no fear Oxman just put the BLO on the dang thing and show us how it turns out! :neener:


It's soaking as we speak. This being my first shooter I haven't had the time to play around with different finishes yet, so I'm just trying to educate myself. Thanks for all the help buddy. No fear here, Mr. Btoon, just a head full of empty space looking to be filled.


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## Imperial

i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.


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## slingingjaymie

Great thread! Learned a lot. Soon I too will be needing to stain natural forks! I like the idea of non waxed finish. Will darken to your grip. =)

Ox, I hope yours turn out great!


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## AlmightyOx

Imperial said:


> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.


I appreciate the warning. I heard to keep it in an area of around 50% relative humidity and no more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so I plan to let it dry in one of my closets with the door open. Nice and shady, and as it is going to get up around 90 degrees these next few days, I wouldn't want any mishaps like that.



slingingjaymie said:


> Great thread! Learned a lot. Soon I too will be needing to stain natural forks! I like the idea of non waxed finish. Will darken to your grip. =)
> 
> Ox, I hope yours turn out great!


This is a great thread indeed. I found another great thread on the topic using the search function yesterday but I can't seem to dig it up anymore. I have bought a couple of slingshots, but lemme say for the record that building your own is a far more rewarding experience.


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## Jeff Lazerface

I only use bee wax if i dont put a coating on it, beewax is all i use, and i use a tiny bit, i get my hands hot, touch the wax so its coating my hand and rub it in and i buff with a rag for a few hours while i watch TV, nothing else. This is a temperary thing and needs to be maintained.

i also will use food coloring or poke berries in wax, but not tried on sling shot.


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## hautamak

Awesome posts ! learned really much reading this and i will need these infos soon... thanks !


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## Crac

RE: Additional finish?

It's a matter of opinion, touching up with more blo is a practical choice for working slingshots. Similar to how slippery and finely sanded you want them.

RE: Bathing time?

Yes it makes ALL the difference in colour, drown them and leave them. It's TOTALLY worth it (imo)

It really can't affect the strength at all.

Guessing the final appearance?

Subject to "the right wood" I have turned the plainest twigs into deeply detailed masterpieces. The results are often better than you first see.

Mixing?

Density determines if it floats... I just put the fork in a medium plastic bag with a small wine glass (2.5 oz!) of blo, squeeze most of the air out, tie the end and store in bucket. I'm sure there are good products that can be mixed or just bought (specialist shops for wood turners?); I hope to look at them in more detail later. No solvents or thinners should be needed I think that's asking for trouble.


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## Imperial

AlmightyOx said:


> Imperial said:
> 
> 
> 
> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.
> 
> 
> 
> I appreciate the warning. I heard to keep it in an area of around 50% relative humidity and no more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so I plan to let it dry in one of my closets with the door open. Nice and shady, and as it is going to get up around 90 degrees these next few days, I wouldn't want any mishaps like that.
Click to expand...

it gets to be around 80% humidity and 112* to 120*, low average, here during the summer, with the light coats and just leaving it outside in the shade, the first couple of coats dry out within 30 minutes. on a good day i can put like 5 coats on and just call it a day. let it dry more overnight and then i just apply whatever final coating i want on it the next day. the desert is good for something.


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## AlmightyOx

Crac said:


> RE: Additional finish?
> 
> It's a matter of opinion, touching up with more blo is a practical choice for working slingshots. Similar to how slippery and finely sanded you want them.
> 
> RE: Bathing time?
> 
> Yes it makes ALL the difference in colour, drown them and leave them. It's TOTALLY worth it (imo)
> 
> It really can't affect the strength at all.


Currently waiting on a batch of Beeswax to show up that I ordered off Amazon. It will be a few days before my sling is ready, so I've got time. I have heard that a light sanding and another coat of hand-applied BLO helps bring out the color. But the finest Sandpaper I have is 320 grit atm, so I don't wanna mess my finish up.

I am using the 50 / 50 mixture I mentioned earlier, but I may try 100% BLO on my next natural.



hautamak said:


> Awesome posts ! learned really much reading this and i will need these infos soon... thanks !


I have learned a lot so far as well. This being my first natural I really appreciate everyones help.


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## Jeff Lazerface

I sand and polish to see scratches, then i sand and repolish, i sometime do this 10's. Like the brass hand rail thats been worn smooth from years of people touching it. But, I am super anal. Do it how you like, I am retired and got the time.


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## AlmightyOx

Doing some digging on the forums I came up with a couple more threads on the topic of BLO and other finishing techniques.

Here you go folks. I hope these help out anyone who found this thread helpful.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/16909-how-to-add-great-color-to-slingshots/

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/12763-why-i-love-linseed-oil-so-much/

Thank you all for your help everyone. Took the shooter out of its BLO bath this morning and it's looking amazing!


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## Hybrid

Imperial said:


> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.


Same here, I just rub it in with my hand. Then again I don't think I'd want the commercial BLO stuff on my hand. I "boil" my own.


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## Imperial

Hybrid said:


> Imperial said:
> 
> 
> 
> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.
> 
> 
> 
> Same here, I just rub it in with my hand. Then again I don't think I'd want the commercial BLO stuff on my hand. I "boil" my own.
Click to expand...

you boil your own ? interesting, ever consider doing a "tutorial" as to how you boil yours ?


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## bullseyeben!

I noticed on a bottle of blo it says mixing 50/50 with mineral turpentine helps absorption and protection of the wood.. Is mineral spirit the same? The min turps mix seems to leave that strong turps odor.. is this the case with min spirit if it is different..or is it the same stuff just different name? I think in the uk it may be called white spirit..?


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## quemado

AlmightyOx said:


> Doing some digging on the forums I came up with a couple more threads on the topic of BLO and other finishing techniques.
> 
> Here you go folks. I hope these help out anyone who found this thread helpful.
> 
> http://slingshotforum.com/topic/16909-how-to-add-great-color-to-slingshots/
> 
> http://slingshotforum.com/topic/12763-why-i-love-linseed-oil-so-much/
> 
> Thank you all for your help everyone. Took the shooter out of its BLO bath this morning and it's looking amazing!


These link methods, I read in an old bandsaw forum. Reads like modern variations of what they called, "French Finish". The version I read was back in the day (1700 or 1800's) they would thin BLO with mineral spirits and apply it to the wood. Then they would hand rub the wood, repeat for many coats. It was a secret for a long time because the rest of Europe could not duplicate the finish. No clue whether the story is true or not. It sure produces beautiful results though.


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## bullseyeben!

Mineral turps as I understand is a natural turpentine substitute.. would they of had this substitute back then? Turpintine is made from plant matter as I understand, not the mineral substitute. .


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## Hrawk

*Turpentine* (also called *spirit of turpentine*, *oil of turpentine*, and *wood turpentine*) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from live trees, mainly pines. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene with lesser amounts of carene, camphene, dipentene, and terpinolene.[1] It is sometimes colloquially known as _turps_.[2]

The word _turpentine_ derives (via French and Latin) from the Greek word τερεβινθίνη _terebinthine_, the name of a species of tree, the terebinth tree.[3] Mineral turpentine or other petroleum distillates are used to replace turpentine, but they are very different chemically.[4]


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## Viper010

I have used low-odour mineral turpentine of late, to great effect, and, as the name suggests, nearly without the stinkyness of classic turp


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## Hybrid

Imperial said:


> Hybrid said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Imperial said:
> 
> 
> 
> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.
> 
> 
> 
> Same here, I just rub it in with my hand. Then again I don't think I'd want the commercial BLO stuff on my hand. I "boil" my own.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> you boil your own ? interesting, ever consider doing a "tutorial" as to how you boil yours ?
Click to expand...

I only made it in a small amount. I put it in a glass bowl, wrapped the underside in aluminum and put a clamp light that radiates a lot of heat over it for 24 hours. Got hot enough to burn my skin. But I only made about a 1/4 of a cup of it. The BLO should be lighter in color compared to raw linseed oil. You can use a crock pot to make a large batch, just leave it on high for 24 hours.

Its supposedly a fire hazard, but I attempted to light a tooth pick that I dipped in the stuff, wouldn't even light lol.


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## Jeff Lazerface

I plan on using strait blo on everything that is not laminated, i just havent yet.


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## bullseyeben!

Hybrid said:


> Imperial said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hybrid said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Imperial said:
> 
> 
> 
> i dont soak mine. i just apply thin coats of blo on it with a paper towel. then let the coats dry. and reapply. whatever you do, dont leave it to dry in the sun, itll give it a "burned" look. well, at least here with the sun in the lower southern cali desert.
> 
> 
> 
> Same here, I just rub it in with my hand. Then again I don't think I'd want the commercial BLO stuff on my hand. I "boil" my own.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> you boil your own ? interesting, ever consider doing a "tutorial" as to how you boil yours ?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I only made it in a small amount. I put it in a glass bowl, wrapped the underside in aluminum and put a clamp light that radiates a lot of heat over it for 24 hours. Got hot enough to burn my skin. But I only made about a 1/4 of a cup of it. The BLO should be lighter in color compared to raw linseed oil. You can use a crock pot to make a large batch, just leave it on high for 24 hours.Its supposedly a fire hazard, but I attempted to light a tooth pick that I dipped in the stuff, wouldn't even light lol.
Click to expand...

Linseed oil doesnt burn rapidly, or ignite viscously when exposed to a naked flame.. but as a lot of people know, leaving oily rags piled up in hot dry conditions can result in the rags self combustion..


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## Tex-Shooter

It also has a lot of BTU's packed in it. I know, that is not the proper way of stating it, but you'all know what I mean! -- Tex


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## Jeff Lazerface

If you heat the wood too 175° that oil soaks to the core instantly. I got some today, Ill post my results after vacation.


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