Hard Oils ?

[Curmudgeon]

I'm told Tung oil actually dries hard, where as most oils don't.
Are there others ?

And while I'm asking, what is Japan dryer ?

[Al_at_THO]

Japan Dryer is what they use over there after a Typhoon.

(you left yourself wide open for that one )

Actually Japan Dryer is something you add to finishes to make them dry faster, especially in cold or humid weather from what I understand.  I have never used it, only read about it.  I know Home Depot carries it and it is not cheap.

As for the oils, almost all of the oils out there, including the so called Tung Oils like Formbys are nothing more than a wiping varnish with dryers in them.

I can say that Teak oil dries really hard.   Try dipping a piece of wood in in and letting it sit for a week or so.  Dip it again and let it sit again.   the stuff gets hard as a rock, but I think it has to do with the thickness too.   Wiping it on probably does not provide much of a surface finish so it appears to be soft.   

Tru Oil is another one that gets rock hard when it dries completely.   I dont know about danish oil as I have never used that but I would imagine it is the same way.

Take a look at the finishing article by Russ Fairfield in the tutorial section.   It's under basic wood turning I think.  He talks alot about the wipe on varnishes and oil finishes.   

Hope that helps some


Al @ THO

[alscalls]

I used to use tru oil on my turkey calls and I can tell ya that stuff dries real hard.......
I cant remember all the names of the others I have used but they all dried hard.
If they did not I would imagine no one would use them or they would be sticky or something....

[Curmudgeon]

Japan Dryer is what they use over there after a Typhoon.

That I did my friend. What was I thinking ?

Must be the high humididy here, Teak oil just gets gooey in the shop ?
I love BLO but quit using it because I'm certain I would eventualy burn the shop down. Had a good friend lose his garage/shop and his rags were in a steel trash can. I'm just too absent minded to take the chance.

Got a can of Tung Oil on the way home today.

[shooter]

I use Boiled Linseed Oil. I let my calls soak in them. I bought a can of Typhoon Dryer at Home Depot. It was around $6-$7. I use  a capful and put it in a glass jar with my oil. When the oil gets a little firm on top, I put it in the oven to warm it up and melt the layer of hard wax. After putting the Japan Dryer in there, I have not had the BLO create a layer of hard oil.

Anyway, I love the look and feel of my calls after they soak. I then use wood floor wax or turtle wax and wipe on my calls. Again, I just started doing this call making, so I am always learning. If I am making a big mistake, someone let me know!! People have been happy with the calls that I have sold them.

I let mine soak because I believe a wipe on finish just covers the outside layer. I want my calls to last, so I soak them in BLO, which was used a long time ago to waterproof things. At least that is what I have read. I alwasy hang my rags up so they can dry. I don't want them to combust. I get a glossier finish with Tung oil, but I have used Formby's, and from what I have read on this site, it does not appear that it is a quality finish. Who knows?

I like Linseed oil and that is probably what I will stick with for now

Andy

[stumpjumper]

I finished 10 strickers yesterday, half in tung oil and the other half in teak oil.  Can`t really tell a differance with the neaked eye as both oils dried up nice and hard.  I like to spray Deft on them to give a little more protection in the field

STUMP

[schwert]

I use food grade flaxseed oil on nearly all my wood carvings.  It dried hard but it takes up to 6 months. I also have walnut oil for the same purpose. 

I plan on using flaxseed oil on my turnings (if I ever get any done that is).  You commercial guys will likely not like it though as it takes so long to dry but I have to say I love the finish I get on spoons etc.  They hold up great in water too.

Way way outside of topic but here is one spoon I did with flaxseed oil.  I use it often in the kitchen and it is a super hard waterproof finish now that it has dried fully.

[Lonehowl]

I am a fan of any kind of carving or wood work and that spoon is really nice!

[Al_at_THO]

That is a nice piece!   

So where do you get the flax oil?

and what do you do with your items while they are drying?   Do you have a drying box or someplace to put them?

Thanks!

Al @ THO

[treedogguy]

on that danish oil, it don't dry hard it stays oily. I've done several calls in it, some calls it looks great on I think and others not so great. I used it on a call I made of afzalia and hedge and it looked great. Know I use it on about 40% of my calls, If it is the right type of wood, the rest is either tung oil, or spar urathane. But I bought a can of that stuff they put on bar tops and I am going to try it as soon as I can.

[schwert]

I buy my flaxseed oil at Trader Joe's.  It is not too expensive there.  Most health food stores will carrry it too, but Trader Joe's seems to have the best prices I have found.  Animal feed stores sometimes have it too...but read the label carefully all I have found was cut with soybean oil.'

Lee Valley sells walnut oil in quart cans.  I have one of these but have never used the oil yet.  Apparently is cures the same as flaxseed oil.

Flaxseed oil is the same thing as raw linseed oil...just edible.  Raw linseed oil for the hardware is almost always not pure flaxseed oil...it will have some heavy metal curing agent in it.  So for food ware I always use food grade flaxseed oil.

Thanks on the spoon compliments too. I enjoy doing those.  When I have carved a spoon I generally soak it in flaxseed oil for 3 days.  Then do a final sand with 600g with oil.   I wipe any oil that weeps out over the next day or two then just put the spoon off to cure for at least a month (in my kitchen or garage)...but try for 3 months minimum before use for cooking/eating.  After 6 months I find they are fully cured and no amount of use seems to have any deleterious effect on them.



I have been reading loads here about call finishes etc and was always wondering why you fellows do not use hard curing oils as much as the miracle poly/CA etc.  I much prefer the ease of oils over the quick stuff, but of course I don't have any customers breathing down my neck

I keep my flaxseed oil in the refer between uses.  I made a long skinny "bag" with my foodsaver machine so I can fully immerse my spoons in oil.  After three days I drain the oil back into the bottle and put it in the refer.  I am sure these intermittent uses of oil have exposed it to oxygen which seems to have reduced the "cure" time.  I keep two bottles going...used oil and fresh.  I top up the used bottle as needed.

[schwert]

Here is another technique I have used with flaxseed oil.  I sealed a knife in a foodsaver bag with about 15mL of flaxseed oil and then pulled a vaccuum on the bag and sealed it.



The bag compressed right around the knife very tight and I could immediately see small bubbles of air coming out of the wood at the end grain and a bit later all over the surface of the wood.



A week later I removed the knife, wiped it off and allowed it to dry....the knife increased in weight by 6g and nearly two years later the knife handle is in as good a shape as it was then...a hard and resistant finish that is not a surface finish and not slick to hold either.


Here is that knife several months ago...

[dogcatcher]

Flaxseed oil is linseed oil or at least comes from the same plant, but what callmakers use is the boiled linseed oil or BLO which has dryers in it so that they don't have to wait 3 months for it to dry.  I think that flaxseed oil is actually a more pure form of natural linseed oil, but don't quote me on that one. 

Did you vacuum the knife handle or just soak it?  The same principles that callmakers use except we use BLO, most just soak the call.  A few of us actually use vacuum and pressure systems to impregnate the wood faster.  It has been a long time since I even saw a can of flaxseed oil, but I seem to remember that it was a more expensive than BLO.

Off track, what woods do you carve your spoons out of?  I really like the first one you posted, beautiful grain pattern.

[schwert]

That first spoon is buckthorn...some sort of invasive weed out in Minnesota. 

I pulled a vacuum on that knife handle to really drive the oil in deep.

I avoid BLO because of the toxic metal drying agents in it....not good for eating spoons.  Linseed and flaxseed oils are identical but boiled linseed oil and most raw linseed oils from paint stores are mixtures containing some sort of drying agents to speed curing.

My food grade flaxseed oil from Trader Joe's is not too expensive...but I have seen it quite high priced at health food stores.  It is my favorite finish for carved wood.

Here is an apricot spoon I did a year ago.  This is my daily eating spoon now.



An here is a nice grained lilac spoon.

[Parker]

   I'm gettin' the urge to make a spoon!  How about everyone else?!

Parker