# Linseed Oil Deteriorating Theratubes



## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

Hi there , folks ,

Just thinking to share my finding in here , ..........this morning I had a look-over on all of my homemade slingshots to look for a suitable shooter to lend to a workmate .

Quite by accident I noticed , that one tube on this earlier natural shooter of mine had deteriorated on a spot of close contact with the natural wood material of the slingshot , namely inside of one of the attachement bores .

Like all of my naturals I soaked the bushwood(hazel, willow or similar)fork inside a 50/50 solution of boiled linseedoil and turpentine for a few days , letting it dry out for another two or three weeks before rigging the tubes .

I haven't shot this slingshot a lot , as I found the theratubes to be somewhat inaccurate to me , the slingshot rested rather untouched inside of a linnen bag down the basement for more than a year .

So far this is the only shooter , on which I did observe this phenomenom , though I have quite a few shooters been treated with linseed oil .

But I can't say that I did not expect such to happen entirely , as I've been soaking my homemade fishing lures made from abachewood in this mentioned linseedoil solution for many years , .......and on some of these lures the oil kinda "sweats out" after months and years , rendering bright colors somewhat brownish or even leave ugly brown stains underneath the epoxy topcoat sometimes .

I reckon that it must have to do with individual woodgrains , as it does not happen to all lures and only on certain locations on the lurebody , .........and I guess same thing would count for natural fork slingshots .

I'm thinking , that due to somewhat irregular woodgrain the solution does not evaporate evenly whilst the drying process and turpentine remains at certain spots to a higher and harmful concentration , ...thus these things occur .

As far as for fishing lures , ......I have found a solution to the problem , ......I would just cover the soaked and afterwards dried timber with an epoxy coat prior to priming and painting , this would not allow the brown stains to come to the surface , ........but for my slingshots this does not work , as I like to leave them without any topcoat of epoxy , polyurethane or similar laquers , ........I just love the silky touch that the linseedoil does provide to the wood .

Guess it's a bit of luck about it(or bad luck , if you will), ...one can't look inside of the timber material , ........just thought that I would let you know ...........

greetz , Holzwurm


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Thanks for the tip bro! usefull info indeed!


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

I didn't realize that because I wear out the bands before that has a chance to happen.I'll have to be aware of that when a leave a set on for a longer period of time.Makes sense.


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

treefork said:


> I didn't realize that because I wear out the bands before that has a chance to happen.I'll have to be aware of that when a leave a set on for a longer period of time.Makes sense.


That fast band wear and change is a point ,.......... I do not often have opportunity to shoot my slingshots , I rather enjoy making them during the little morning leisure time prior to lateshifts, .........I would have to take a close look at all of my natural forks with tied fatbands or tubes running thru bores , ......won't happen to the ones with eyebolt attachement of Dankung tubes , anyway !

@ Viper010

Glad , if I could propvide some help







!

Greetz , Holzwurm


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## Rapier (May 28, 2011)

Hmmm well obviously the majority of wear will always occour at the point where rubber is in contact with whatever material and especially when repeatdly streached as this creates friction, rubber/latex being a 'grippy' substance is prone to this effect. Friction causes abbrasion and the more abrasion the more friction...
Also it's know that oils deteriate the properties of rubber fairly quickly hence the need for water based lubricants...
That being said a boiled linseed/mineral turpintine mixture that has been absorbed by wood and then FULLY CURED should not then leech out after the fact. A couple of things that may cause this to happen might be... Green or moist timbers. in this case the water left in the wood dilutes and drags some of the oil out with it as the wood further dries over time. The thing here is to naturally dry a 1" fork may take up to 2 years. Most of us don't want to wait so long but it does take time to do things right. Also there are some woods that are already , naturally impreginated with oil like cypress for exsample. A beautifuly grained timber with an equally lovely smell. This wood will absorb very little extra oil, nore will it laminate very well unless it's pre-treated to do so... I cut handle slabs from these timbers weeks befor I even start with them and dry the indivdual (thinner) slabs seperatly using a 'bed' of fine sawdust to help absorb the excess moisture and periodically rubbing with accetone or thinners and once again immediatly befor use/gluing...
Finally anything finished in the linseed fasion, after being FULLY CURED, can be further sealed in a liquid bees wax (thanks Hrawk) and buffed to further secure the oils and look of the final product. The wax has very low impect on rubbers and has much less friction compered to other finishes and is also easly renuable/renovated by reapplying the wax or indeed the entire linseed bath application for years and years of beauty and protection...
Just saying...


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## bbshooter (Jun 3, 2010)

When I got my first Dankung, I made up sets of bands from 1745 tubing I purchased at the same time. The area where the tubing rubbed on the 'ears' would start to break down after only 200 to 300 shots and I would have to replace the bands before they failed. I have since purchased other Dankung tubing, but I have not had that problem again. I decided that length of 1745 was poorly manufactured.


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

@ Rapier

Thanks so much for your extensive explanations on the topic , I appreciate this very much , very interesting







!

Do you still remember about that beeswax thread by Hrawk to point out to me , ........just gotta read it ?

I like this particular natural fork very much , .....TheraTubes are not the real McCoy to me , anyway , ......thinkin'bout turning down two brass, - or aluminium flanged bushes to epoxy into the attachement holes to reduce the bore diameter , ...this way I could rig the thinner Dankung tubes without having contact with the linseedoil-soaked timber anymore !

@ bbshooter

This problem ist really about some kinda chemical reaction of rubber to the linseedoil , not about the mechanical wear of bands . Surely tubes would snap at exactly this location shown on my picture(had such happen before , too) , but I haven't shot this slingshot a lot as I can't cope with these TheraTubes , they're sometimes having their own will in terms of shooting direction







!

But the rubber of the tube really dissolved , some rubber fragments were sticking into the bore after removing the tube and the spot on the tube was pretty much tacky , also the interior of the attachement bore , .........reminded me to the softeners containing in plastic lures dissolving not wormproof paints and other kinds of plastic on longer contact .

I can imagine that it's possible to fetch a bad batch of slingshot elastics , ......never happened to me though , but have read about it before , ........pretty much disturbing , though !

Thanks again , fellas , ......greetz , Dieter


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## Rapier (May 28, 2011)

I'm not sure where Hrawk posted it but there's probably a thread on oil finishes in the DIY section.
If you use ally or brass remember both these materials are very abrasive even when polished smooth. I would try a 'plug' of very dense hard wood of a darker color epoxied in and use wax to finish the hole. Would look really cool. You can get a liquid bees wax from most hardware stores. Just soak in the wax for a few hrs, take out and let cure for an hr then polish excess off.

Hype~X Australia


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

@ Rapier

Thanks a lot for further info , mate , ........I've been thinkin'bout hardwood bushes as well , but not so sure , whether I could find a suitable piece of timber in my scrabwood pile , .......apart from teakwood .

I remember to have had a small dowel of some exotic dark hardwood , but I guess , it's at the bottom of the pile and I won't like to get slained by a timber avalanche , LOL !

Gotta look after this beeswax stuff , I'm 100% sure to obtain it if I could find it over here .

Thanks a lot again , greetz , ......Dieter


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## Blue Danube (Sep 24, 2011)

Its the turpentine dissolving or softening the rubber....

If you do 50/50 ratio, you would get best results by waiting one week minimum for the finish to cure and solvents to evaporate. My druthers are two heavy coats of straight BLO, waiting about 30 minutes between coates, wipe off excess, let dry 24 hours in warm low humidity enviroment.

Then use a wood sealer that will work over oil, rub out with bronze or synthetic wool (0000 grade) and finish with lacquer. Quality wood finishes take time, shortcuts outside of CA glue normally do not work.

Just my ten cents worth......


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

Really a bit more elaborate method , ....but what is "straight BLO" , please , ...not familiar to that term !

Thanks for sharing , ....greetz , Holzwurm


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## Elmar (Apr 27, 2011)

Holzwurm said:


> Really a bit more elaborate method , ....but what is "*straight BLO*" , please , ...not familiar to that term !
> 
> Thanks for sharing , ....greetz , Holzwurm


Boiled LinseedOil -> Pures Leinöl (gekocht)


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

Elmar said:


> Really a bit more elaborate method , ....but what is "*straight BLO*" , please , ...not familiar to that term !
> 
> Thanks for sharing , ....greetz , Holzwurm


Boiled LinseedOil -> Pures Leinöl (gekocht)
[/quote]

Dankeschön , ...hätt' ich 'drauf kommen können , LOL !

Gruß , Holzwurm


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## Elmar (Apr 27, 2011)

Gern geschehen ;-)

I've got the same problem with some tubes, "luckily" weak like hot marshmallow, so it didn't snap back...

Meanwhile, I'll take either cellulose lacquer (Zaponlack) or bees- or carnauba wax.
Linseed oil takes too long to dry...


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