adding wight to wooded planes using linseed oil

[Matthew N. Masail]

I was wondering, in a coffin smoother made from Beech (chopped not laminated), approximately how much wight will be added by letting raw linseed oil bleed through the body? and can you do the same with pure tung oil?

[george wilson]

The question is not possible to answer due to obvious unknown plane size. I use raw linseed oil,after stopping off the throat with window putty. The plane is clamped to a flat plank first. The throat will need to be filled with oil a number of times,depending on the volume of the plane's body. Tung oil takes so long to dry,I don't know if it would all leak through and make an oily mess. I'd stick with linseed myself.

[Jim Belair]

I used raw linseed oil on a Japanese plane body and it soaked clear through as desired. I wasn't trying to add weight necessarily but protect the wood (there's differing opinions on the effectiveness of this). It took a long time to dry (weeks). I thought tung oil dried faster but have very little experience with it.

[Zander Kale]

Not a whole lot - I think I was able to get a quarter cup of thinned varnish into my wooden smoother (using a vacuum).

[george wilson]

Tung oil dries MUCH slower than linseed. We used tung on tools,and it took at least 4 days to dry. Boiled Linseed would dry overnight. Raw takes longer.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Thanks, I guess it won't add that much. I've never used linseed oil but the pure tung oil I have takes weeks to dry fully even if just rubbed on.

[george wilson]

Tung oil is good if your tools are stored in a damp place and get moldy. We finished tools that were stored in unheated sheds with tung oil. Otherwise,I like linseed better.