Linseed oil.. any advice??

[Samon]

Just went to a small timber/diy store in town and got a 500ml bottle of Linseed oil for £4.70 to use on the scaled of my new Svord peasant knifen and I'd like a bit of advice is anyone has any.

It is raw linseed oil not boiled. I've got rags to apply it and a rough idea of how to rub it in but a more in depth tutorial would be usefull as the search thing isn't great.

Also, is this stuff toxic on the skin like the boiled linseed oil? how many coats a day? much per coating?

I've got white spirits and some 'acetone free' nail polish remover, is this good enough to remove the varnish on the wooden scales?

A pic of the knife scales if it helps!

Thanks for your time and help guys!

 

[HHazeldean]

Linseed oil is not toxic to the hands,I have my hands covered in it many times, I normally use just raw linseed oil and if you boil it inside the house, it stinks the whole pace out.

Hope this helps.

 

[Samon]

ok thats good to know, do I just strip the varnish off (if what I have works that is) then rub it in the oil generously with my fingers and or cloth? then rub off the excess after 30 mins and repeat a few times a day over a few days?

 

[Retired Member southey]

You could just sand the scales lightly to remove the varnish, then pour you linseed in a tub and pop the wood in there for a few days, after that take em out, wipe em off, then give em a wipe over every month or so.

 

[HHazeldean]

Would you have to remove the scales or would you put the whole knife in?

 

[Samon]

I'd like the knife to be useable again within a week if that's possible, so is rubbing it in by hand for a few days with a few rubs once a week after words quicker than the dunking method?

 

[Retired Member southey]

strip down the knife, rub, dunk for an hour or two just to get into the wood a little then wipe and reassemble, that should work dudes.

 

[Samon]

strip down the knife, rub, dunk for an hour or two just to get into the wood a little then wipe and reassemble, that should work dudes.

okies, will the white spirits and/or acetone free nail polish remover get the varnish off? I will sand them some more to refine the shape but I'd like to make sure it's all off!

 

[Retired Member southey]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the spirit or acetone just sand it.

 

[shaggystu]

strip down the knife, rub, dunk for an hour or two just to get into the wood a little then wipe and reassemble, that should work dudes.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the spirit or acetone just sand it.

i'd say that southey's got it dead right with these two posts, sandpaper 'til you're bored, then soak in oil 'til impatience gets the better of you, then leave it to dry somewhere warmish overnight, job done.

stuart

 

[Samon]

ok mate thanks!

I'll give it ago later as I need to do play with it in the garden sometime before dark

Also..can I use the raw linseed oil on my carbon steel knife blades to keep away rust? I've been using a standard work mans oil and it's fine but not good if I want to use my knife on food.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

No need to oil the blade unless you're storing it for a while, just clean & carefully dry the blade after each use & it should be fine. Linseed oil is not the best for metal anyway, as it's not absorbed it will become sticky, a real gunge magnet, & you will need to use white spirit or turps to get it all off too.
I agree with the others about sanding the handles, besides acetone won't remove the varnish if it's water-based & white spirit won't remove it whatever the varnish. If you wanted to save time you could use paint stripper.
I don't advise dunking as linseed oil is very thick & really needs to be rubbed in, the heat of your hands & rubbing will warm up the oil & the wood pores & so penetrate much better.
Incidently, you can use the knife between applications of oil should you need to ( if it's not tacky) as it will be more or less protected with the first coat............enjoy.

 

[Toddy]

And whatever else you do, don't put the rags away somewhere that they can't evaporate off the oil relatively fast. If they can't, heat builds up and they can burst into flames.
It's exothermic and potentially a real fire hazard.

"Spontaneous combustion.....Rags soaked with linseed oil stored in a pile are considered a fire hazard because they provide a large surface area for oxidation of the oil, and the oil oxidizes quickly. The oxidation of linseed oil is an exothermic reaction, which accelerates as the temperature of the rags increases. When heat accumulation exceeds the rate of heat dissipation into the environment, the temperature increases and may eventually become hot enough to make the rags spontaneously combust."
Wikipedia.

Stay safe



cheers,
Toddy

 

[blacktimberwolf]

And whatever else you do, don't put the rags away somewhere that they can't evaporate off the oil relatively fast. If they can't, heat builds up and they can burst into flames.
It's exothermic and potentially a real fire hazard.

"Spontaneous combustion.....Rags soaked with linseed oil stored in a pile are considered a fire hazard because they provide a large surface area for oxidation of the oil, and the oil oxidizes quickly. The oxidation of linseed oil is an exothermic reaction, which accelerates as the temperature of the rags increases. When heat accumulation exceeds the rate of heat dissipation into the environment, the temperature increases and may eventually become hot enough to make the rags spontaneously combust."
Wikipedia.

Stay safe




cheers,
Toddy

Yes I read that too though I rest sceptic. I have been using linseed oil ( raw, cold pressed not boiled) for the last 35 years & always have loads of rags soaked in oil, turpentine & white spirit laying around in my studio & I've never had a spontanious combustion. ( nor heard of one either ) Oil paintings hanging on peoples walls are drenched in oxidized linseed oil, ( & other highly flammable agents,eg. turps, varnish) now have you ever heard of a painting spontaiously combusting ?
Also linseed oil was used for centuries to waterproof ship's sails ( & oilskin clothing) no spontanious combustion there either.
Wikipedia may be refering to boiled linseed oil which can contain solvents ( not being discussed here) I am pretty sure raw ( cold pressed) linseed is no more flammable than any other vegetable oils, eg. peanut or sunflower.
I can find no other references of good ole' linseed oil combustioning.
Wikipedia states only of one case & we don't know all the details & circumstances which lead up to this fire.
Wikipedia articles are submitted by ordinary people like us & are often based on incomplete information. I don't think we should start to panic about linseed oil over a tiny,one off reference in Wikipedia.

 

[shaggystu]

Yes I read that too though I rest sceptic. I have been using linseed oil ( raw, cold pressed not boiled) for the last 35 years & always have loads of rags soaked in oil, turpentine & white spirit laying around in my studio & I've never had a spontanious combustion. ( nor heard of one either ) Oil paintings hanging on peoples walls are drenched in oxidized linseed oil, ( & other highly flammable agents,eg. turps, varnish) now have you ever heard of a painting spontaiously combusting ?
Also linseed oil was used for centuries to waterproof ship's sails ( & oilskin clothing) no spontanious combustion there either.
Wikipedia may be refering to boiled linseed oil which can contain solvents ( not being discussed here) I am pretty sure raw ( cold pressed) linseed is no more flammable than any other vegetable oils, eg. peanut or sunflower.
I can find no other references of good ole' linseed oil combustioning.
Wikipedia states only of one case & we don't know all the details & circumstances which lead up to this fire.
Wikipedia articles are submitted by ordinary people like us & are often based on incomplete information. I don't think we should start to panic about linseed oil over tiny,one off reference in Wikipedia.

i couldn't agree more with what you're saying here, i leave rags covered in linseed oil all over the place, there's a bucket full of them in the shed, and i've never had any problems at all......but that said, someone on here (i think it was john fenna) tried a bit of a practical experiment with this and left some oily rags in a tin in the sun, they combusted.
maybe there is a tiny little risk, but not one to lose too much sleep over IMHO.

stuart

 

[blacktimberwolf]

i couldn't agree more with what you're saying here, i leave rags covered in linseed oil all over the place, there's a bucket full of them in the shed, and i've never had any problems at all......but that said, someone on here (i think it was john fenna) tried a bit of a practical experiment with this and left some oily rags in a tin in the sun, they combusted.
maybe there is a tiny little risk, but not one to lose too much sleep over IMHO.

stuart

And I agree with you, the risk, if there is one, is so minimal, it's just not worth worrying about.

 

[Teepee]

Toddy's advice is good. I run a decorating business and have seen it happen. Back in the day when I was in college, we had a fire from rags soaked in a linseed based coating and this ensured the 'Dont leave paint soaked rags screwed up' message was well taken in . I have heard horror stories too, namely burning down a customers house. I agree that its a very unlikely event and despite leaving all my rags stuffed in tins (away from anywhere they might cause a fire) i have not had it happen to me directly. Its not just for linseed oil either, goes for all paints/varnishes.

However unlikely, its just not worth watching your house/garage/shed/tipi burn for the sake of a dirty rag. Lay them out open to dry, then bin.

 

[Samon]

Just took the scales off and gave them a good sanding down to make them smooth and symetrical then rubbed a generous ammount of linseed oil in with my hands for about 10 minutes then left them in a tablespoons worth of the oil in a little plastic tub and will leave them there for a few hours.

After they've had their little oil bath I'll rub them with my hands for a further 10 or so minutes untill they are nice and warm then remove the excess oil with some remaining rag I cut to apply it originally (before I got bored and got my hands mucky ) and then leave it over night to breath and suck up any more surface oil left.

In the morning I'll check them out and see if I want to feed them more or put it back together and apply a mild coating over the next few days with a rag.

I also ground the low section of the edge away with a green dremel stone bit to make it UK legal for edc, not exactly because I want to carry it around but because I'd like the option if it were to ever occur!

I'd like to add in more stability pins into the scales when they have been oiled to my liking for that added strength I felt it lacked out of the box!

No pictures yet but in the morning I'll put a few up showing its progress. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Toddy's advice is good. I run a decorating business and have seen it happen. Back in the day when I was in college, we had a fire from rags soaked in a linseed based coating and this ensured the 'Dont leave paint soaked rags screwed up' message was well taken in . I have heard horror stories too, namely burning down a customers house. I agree that its a very unlikely event and despite leaving all my rags stuffed in tins (away from anywhere they might cause a fire) i have not had it happen to me directly. Its not just for linseed oil either, goes for all paints/varnishes.

However unlikely, its just not worth watching your house/garage/shed/tipi burn for the sake of a dirty rag. Lay them out open to dry, then bin.

linseed based coatings or boiled linseed oil are not the same things as pure (raw) linseed oil. It's just a vegetable oil extracted from flax seeds. ( ever heard of a flax field in full sun combusting ?) I think boiled linseed oil is more often used in decorating as it dries quicker & can have additives such as solvents to speed up drying even more which of course renders it more volatile. I've yet to be convinced about the combustability of raw linseed oil & Wikipedea is not a reference for me (on this issue at least). That said, warnings don't do any harm & it's up to us to heed them or not.

 

[Toddy]

Linseed oil is a drying oil in all of the applications you mention Blacktimberwolf....it's exothermic.
If the heat cannot dissipate quickly enough it will burn.

Wikipedia was quoted for the simplicity of it's description.
Will Oxford University Data Safety Sheet do for you ??
http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/LI/linseed_oil.html

As a crop the oil is contained within the fibres of the seed, it is not exposed to air, it does not react.

Raw linseed oil on cloth, crumpled up and left somewhere where it cannot give off heat fast enough, is an entirely different matter.

If you wish to be an idiot about it, that's entirely your right, but don't denigrate potential dangers simply because you *haven't seen it happen*.

I have. In a boatshed thirty odd years ago. There was a smell like hot frying on a summer evening, and then a yell from one of the workmen and the apprentice got a clout round the ear that sent him flying. The rag was in a pile of shavings and the whole lot went up. The big kettle was poured over it and the whole soggy lot scooped up and thrown outside on the redash path to dry and then it was deliberately burnt.

Toddy