substitutes for boiled linseed oil?!

[forrestdweller]

as per title: what would work as a substitute for boiled linseed oil to TLC wooden tool handles (especially in tropical climate) as B.L.O doesn't exist in this corner of the world (nor does bees wax, so a mixture of wax and plant oil is no option either...)
only thing i could think of is mineral oil (=a colourless version is occasionally used by locals to treat furniture)....

 

[Toddy]

Fractionated coconut oil, or tung oil.

 

[TLM]

Cold pressed linseed oil with 1% cobalt octoate or comparable polyester resin catalyst. In warm it hardens in about 24 h to slightly sticky and in a few days to fully cured.

 

[grainweevil]

Fractionated coconut oil, or tung oil.

Or walnut oil. Maybe other nut oils, but check if they're known to go rancid first. Peanut is a no-no in that respect.

 

[Dave Budd]

Normally I would suggest Danish oil, but if you can't get boiled linseed then that is likely out. Tung, etc as suggested are often used for outdoor furniture too. In reality ANY oil will be better than nothing, though vegetable oils often go sticky until they dry and mineral oils often a bit slippery until dried (wiping it off thoroughly after application helps).

I've come across a lot of old tool handles in the UK that were treated with oil motor oil too. Stinky and not my personal preference, but clearly worked as it was basically unrefined creosote! I have tried it for experimentation purposes and it is like a mucky mineral oil in finish though I suspect dries faster and better at keeping boring beetles away from the handle (maybe another reason it was used)

 

[forrestdweller]

Normally I would suggest Danish oil, but if you can't get boiled linseed then that is likely out. Tung, etc as suggested are often used for outdoor furniture too. In reality ANY oil will be better than nothing, though vegetable oils often go sticky until they dry and mineral oils often a bit slippery until dried (wiping it off thoroughly after application helps).

I've come across a lot of old tool handles in the UK that were treated with oil motor oil too. Stinky and not my personal preference, but clearly worked as it was basically unrefined creosote! I have tried it for experimentation purposes and it is like a mucky mineral oil in finish though I suspect dries faster and better at keeping boring beetles away from the handle (maybe another reason it was used)

old motor oil is available even over here (it's actually SOLD at patrol stations and car mechanics as locals use it to treat wooden buildings with it against termite infestation), so i'll give that a try , although probably not on the handle of my Gransfors SFA first (bought long before they came fashionable and prices went up and (most likely) the only SFA to have reached the summit of Mt. Fuji...)

 

[forrestdweller]

Or walnut oil. Maybe other nut oils, but check if they're known to go rancid first. Peanut is a no-no in that respect.

nut oils aren't common around here and i presume they'd go mouldy on the handle in this humid conditions...

 

[C_Claycomb]

What oils, waxes and varnishes are available where you are?

I have read warnings that coconut oil can go rancid, but also that it as been used for tool handles. It doesn’t cure.

I am wondering about paraffin wax, applied with heat to make it soak into the wood. Read about it as a wooden bow finish with better water resistance than BLO.

 

[forrestdweller]

What oils, waxes and varnishes are available where you are?

I have read warnings that coconut oil can go rancid, but also that it as been used for tool handles. It doesn’t cure.

I am wondering about paraffin wax, applied with heat to make it soak into the wood. Read about it as a wooden bow finish with better water resistance than BLO.

coconut oil is sold in small stalls along the highway (but can be mixed with palm(?) oil...), mineral oil and wood varnish for furniture in 1l tins (not sure of composition)

is paraffin wax the stuff used for candles? (if yes: i had candles go mouldy as well...)

 

[C_Claycomb]

Paraffin wax is typically candle wax, but some candles can be made from soy,mor have dyes or fragrances that grow mould. Usually, paraffin wax does not grow mould.

Doesn’t sound like you have much choice. I would probably use the mineral oil.

 

[Nice65]

I’d use whatever the locals use, the mineral oil used to treat furniture you mentioned in the first post.

 

[Broch]

I use a food safe mineral oil as my base for all my wood treatment. I am never looking for that 'shiny' finish you can get with a hardening layer.

 

[Falstaff]

When in Rome be a Roman - use the locally used oil. If it didn't work then it wouldn't be used, it may not be optimum but there will be a reason why it is used. See if anyone knows why, often it's been used for so long that the reason has been forgotten.

 

[C_Claycomb]

When in Rome be a Roman - use the locally used oil. If it didn't work then it wouldn't be used, it may not be optimum but there will be a reason why it is used. See if anyone knows why, often it's been used for so long that the reason has been forgotten.

Except when the local solution is toxic, used out of necessity and ignorance. Maybe not the case here but there are other examples I can think of where local solutions were not a good idea for those wishing to live a long time.

 

[forrestdweller]

I’d use whatever the locals use, the mineral oil used to treat furniture you mentioned in the first post.

thanks for everyone's advice (tool maintenance isn't common around here except for chainsaws (somehow you have to cut down those rainforests...), so asking locals isn't working...), seems the mineral oil will be my solution then

 

[forrestdweller]

Except when the local solution is toxic, used out of necessity and ignorance. Maybe not the case here but there are other examples I can think of where local solutions were not a good idea for those wishing to live a long time.

like all those toxins used by the banana mafia on a daily base (lots of their employees get employed just under 3months, then 2weeks off before another 3months employment so they don't get retirement and can't sue Dole, Chiquita etc. for health damage due to exposure to nasty herbicides etc. ...)