BLO help

[Larry Pickering]

How long do you wait before clearing BLO, with lacquer ? Had clear peel off of a vase, that I wet sanded with BLO.

In my day job, I own an automotive paint store, and I was all ways taught that
paint and oil do not go together.

Larry Pickering

[Bernie Weishapl]

Larry I always let BLO cure for at least a two weeks if not a month depending on conditions (humidity, temp, etc.). I have stopped using BLO because of that and use strictly Antique Oil or General Finishes Seal-A-Cell followed by Arm-R-Seal.

[Scott Hackler]

hmmm. I almost always apply BLO (mostly on the lathe and let it get warm with friction), take a dry paper towel and dry off any excess, blow it off with the air hose, let it set for 10-30 minutes and start shooting lacquer. I haven't ever had the clear peel off.

I have even taken a peice directly off the lathe, with a fresh application of BLO and started shooting lacquer immediately, with the same results.

[John Keeton]

My experience has been the same as Scott's. Most of the time, I do seal the BLO with shellac prior to application of the lacquer.

[Larry Pickering]

Scott, your way is pretty much the way I applied it, I put tape on the vase to put it back on, my NEW Nichol bowl support, when I pulled the tape off, the clear peeled off. I like John's idea of using shellac as a sealer.

Larry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Larry,

I use BLO to pop the grain on a lot of my turnings and finish them on the lathe if possible.

I apply BLO sparingly, wipe off the excess and then seal it with Dewaxed shellac. Then I often put Deft brushing lacquer over that. I haven't had problem yet.

[Michael James]

double ditto on sparingly and seal with dewaxed shellac...Unless you intend to saturate the wood.... then it's going to depend on lots of environmental factors. If time is NOT an issue, that should not be a problem.
Good Luck!
Michael

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm definitely in the minority but I think BLO blows. Using raw or boiled linseed oil simply makes no sense to me. It takes forever to "dry and never really dries completely. Yes it does make the grain pop but any oil will do that. There are any number of oil based finishes available that are formulated with driers that "work" so much better that it makes no sense (at least to me) to use "plain" BLO. Minwax Antique Oil and Watco to name a couple. Tung oil finishes abound and I much prefer tung oil to BLO anyway. I have a finish that I mix up that uses BLO mixed with spar varnish and turps that will actually dry hard and I use it on projects where I want a durable hard finish that looks like hand rubbed oil. But if I'm using the oil only to bring out the grain and I plan to use a top coat like lacquer, I use Watco which will dry sufficiently overnight to lay a finish over. On most of my turnings, I have used Watco and wax since I prefer a low gloss finish.

[John Keeton]

I agree there are many ways to "pop the grain" and those mentioned by David will work. The decision as to what to use is based on many factors, and color is one of those. BLO is darker (more amber) than some of the other oils - that can be good or bad depending on the look you are after. Tung oil is much lighter in color, and there are other oils that are even lighter, but will still achieve an enhancement of the figure in wood.

[Karl Card]

hmmm. I almost always apply BLO (mostly on the lathe and let it get warm with friction), take a dry paper towel and dry off any excess, blow it off with the air hose, let it set for 10-30 minutes and start shooting lacquer. I haven't ever had the clear peel off.

I have even taken a peice directly off the lathe, with a fresh application of BLO and started shooting lacquer immediately, with the same results.


same here, i think the difference is the warmth from turning the wood and getting the pores open and the warmth I feel sets up the blo. Just a thought.

[Karl Card]

I agree there are many ways to "pop the grain" and those mentioned by David will work. The decision as to what to use is based on many factors, and color is one of those. BLO is darker (more amber) than some of the other oils - that can be good or bad depending on the look you are after. Tung oil is much lighter in color, and there are other oils that are even lighter, but will still achieve an enhancement of the figure in wood.

having used blo to get the grain to pop, I also realize that deft brushing lacquer pretty much does the same thing. For me anyway. It seems to make the wood look like your are actually looking into it instead of just at it.