Boiled linseed oil

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milius2

Maker
Jun 8, 2009
989
7
Lithuania
Hi guys, what the boiling does to linseed oil?
I known for a while, that linseed oil is good material to put on wood, but never heard of boiling it first...?...
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,177
2,932
66
Pembrokeshire
Commercial "boiled" Linseed oil is bunged full of drier/hardeners etc and will build up on the outside of the wood more than "raw" linseed oil.
Boiling your own is highly dangerous and can lead to explosive fireballs......
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
35
Scotland
Boiling lessens drying time, which is further cut down by heavy metals, spirits etc which can be added to commercial products as John said. Bad for spoons, bowls, chopping boards etc but great for other woodwork. No linseed oil, raw or otherwise, needs to be boiled before use - the issue is that a good finish can take a very long time to get with raw oil.

I believe though that the chemicals aren't limited to boiled linseed oil. A shop near my work sells raw linseed oil, which I've considered buying, but to be honest I don't believe for a second that it has no chemical additives, and since it's not supposed to be consumed, they're under no obligation to list the ingredients I don't believe.

Robin Wood did a good post regarding it on his blog I think, might be worth a look! I believe, though can't be 100% sure, that he favours walnut oil for the work he doesn't sell and imports pure linseed oil for what he does sell. Being a green wood worker, I figure he's a good authority on it :p

Pete
 
Walnut oil works very well, linseed oil is very nice and tung oil is also very good.

The boiled linseed oil usually has chemical additions to make it dry faster, I used boiled linseed oil for the floors in the house, I can´t wait 3 weeks until the unboiled oil is dried.

The ¨boiling¨ of linseed oil speeds up the polymerisation process that is in the natural oil allready there (same goes for tung and walnut). The polymerisation is started and influenced by sunlight and oxigen.

Danish oil is used a lot by turners and woodworkers and that is chemically processed tung oil.
 

milius2

Maker
Jun 8, 2009
989
7
Lithuania
Ok, thanks guys, I never considered buying linseed oil from hardware shop. As it is popular in Lithuania as a natural product and we buy it staight from people that makes it (fresh). We put it on different salats and never cook on it.

So thanks alot for the info, now I'll have a better understanding about it. Thanks a lot ;)
 

forestwalker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Robin Wood did a good post regarding it on his blog I think, might be worth a look! I believe, though can't be 100% sure, that he favours walnut oil for the work he doesn't sell and imports pure linseed oil for what he does sell. Being a green wood worker, I figure he's a good authority on it :p

I have also seen the walnut reccomendation from RW. As well as
buying flax oil in the grocery store (that is what I do; it is cheaper than the pure cold pressed linseed oil, and pretty much the same thing)
 

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