Workbench - BLO vs BLO/MS vs BLO/MS/Wax

[Dave Haughs]

So I am a little confused here. Finally getting my new shop setup. I just finished a laminating up a solid ash bench top. Well 3 of them. My first instinct was to just finish them with BLO. So I did that, top and bottom and edges. Rubbed it in then let it sit and wiped it dry after an hour or so. Then I got to reading here and I see a lot of people recommend BLO mixed 50/50 with Mineral Spirits and others recommend a mix of BLO, MS and Bee's Wax.

I've done some searching but I can't find where any one really explains the advantages to the mixes over the straight BLO (aside from the wax making the surface a little slicker).

Can anyone explain the advantages/disadvantages of the different mixes?

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[Steve Schoene]

There is zero difference between applying BLO and applying BLO thinned with mineral spirits. Some may tell you that it will penetrate more deeply, but that's not true. The penetration is determined by the molecular size of BLO (large) versus mineral spirits (small). The MS may start to penetrate with it's small molecules but it's ALL going to evaporate, so the penetration that matters is that of BLO only. Wax is mostly cosmetic but as you mentioned it may make the top slicker. To my mind that's generally a bad thing. I suppose if the top is for gluing, wax might help glue drips pop off more easily

[Dave Haughs]

So it's just like thinning any other finish then. Faster "cure" time maybe? The mineral spirits is just a thinner at this point and doesn't affect the end result. Good to know. I guess I should have know that :)

[glenn bradley]

I'm no expert but, most BLO that you and I pick up at the store is linseed oil with additives to make it dry (the meaning of "boiled" in this case as opposed to polymerized oil). As stated, BLO does not "thin" with mineral spirits since the solids do not liquefy. I do hit BLO 50:50 with mineral spirits and add 3 or 4 percent japan drier for shop surfaces. This is simply because it makes it quicker and more uniform to apply for me without having to "flood" the surface. This results in less oil penetration probably but, I have found that for shop surfaces, the mix serves me just as well as flooding full strength and I don't have a week of weeping to deal with. I do not mix it when I am using it on furniture since my patience is far greater when I'm working on something like that. I also paste wax my benchtops about once a year after doing any repairs on exceptionally large dings or divots.

[Howard Acheson]

Carefully read Steve's response. He covers most of the issues with BLO or BLO thinned. Neither provides much in the way of protection. The following is something that may help.

A film finish (lacquer, shellac, varnish, poly varnish) is not the way to finish a workbench top. A workbench is going to get dinged and film finishes will crack or craze or be otherwise damaged. Once a film finish is penetrated, it looses its effectiveness and adjacent areas begin to fail. No treatment is going to make a soft wood benchtop harder. I much favor an "in the wood finish". Here are two that lots of folks find effective.

First, is an boiled linseed oil and wax finish. Sand the surface to 180 grit. Mix paraffin or bees wax into heated boiled linseed oil. USE A DOUBLE BOILER TO HEAT THE OIL. The ratio is not critical but about 5-6 parts of boiled linseed oil in a double boiler with one part paraffin or beeswax shaved in. Take it off the stove. Thin this mixture about 50/50 with mineral spirits to make a heavy cream like liquid. Apply this mixture to the benchtop liberally and allow to set overnight. Do it again the next day and again the following day if the top continues to absorb it. After a final overnight, lightly scrape off any excess wax and buff. This finish will minimize the absorbsion of any water and you can use a damp rag to wipe up any glue excess. Dried glue will pop right off the surface. Renewal or repair is easy. Just use a scraper to remove and hardened stuff, wipe down with mineral spirits using a 3/0 steel wool pad (a non-woven green or gray abrasive pad is better), wipe off the gunk and apply another coat of boiled linseed oil/wax mixture.

My personal preference is for an oil/varnish mixture treatment. Either use Minwax Tung Oil Finish, Minwax Antique oil or a homebrew of equal parts of boiled linseed oil, your favorite varnish or poly varnish and mineral spirits. Sand the benchtop up to 180 grit. Apply the mixture heavily and keep it wet for 15-30 minutes. Wipe off any excess completely. Let it dry overnight and the next day, apply another coat using a gray non-woven abrasive pad. Let it set and then wipe off any excess. Let this dry 48-72 hours. To prevent glue from sticking apply a coat of furniture paste wax and you're done. This treatment is somewhat more protective than the wax and mineral oil as the varnish component adds some protection from not only water both some other chemicals also. The waxing makes the surface a little more impervious to water so you can wipe up any liquid adhesive. It also allows hardened adhesive to be scraped off. Repair and renewal is easy. Just go through the same scraping, wiping down with mineral spirits and reapplication of the BLO/varnish/mineral spirits mixture and an application of paste wax.

Both of the above treatments are quite protective but are easy to maintain and renew. They do not fail when the surface takes a ding.

[Dave Haughs]

Thanks all for the clarifications. I might do a second coat with blo/wax/mineral spirits to try it out.

[Prashun Patel]

"There is zero difference between applying BLO and applying BLO thinned with mineral spirits."

With arguably 1 minor exception: Applying unthinned BLO to a large surface can be annoyingly slow. Depending on your shop temp, it can be a little thick. Thinning it with MS has the benefit of making it more workable. But I think 50/50 with MS is overkill. You might need maybe 10% MS. Thinning it this little will have negligible effect on the overall protection, which is minor to begin with.

Yes it is just like thinning any other oil-based finish. MS only makes the product easier to work with. It does not increase penetration, and it does not speed cure time (incidentally, BLO does not cure. You may perceive that thinned BLO dries faster to the touch than pure, but that's only because stroke-for-stroke, you're depositing less BLO, so there's less of it to dry.)

I'm with Howard, that adding a small amount of varnish to the mix - polyurethane is just fine, is a good thing. 33/33/33 BLO, Poly, MS (and that's so rough, you can tweak it any which way). Wipe on, leave for 5 minutes. Buff off. Repeat next day until sheen is even. Here, the MS is useful because it will make the quite-thick Poly easier to wipe on. The BLO is there to increase the open time of the blend; the mix stays less tacky for longer with BLO in the mix, which makes it easier to wipe off.

[Dave Haughs]

All great info! I'm going to keep it simple with just BLO for now I think. This isn't my glue up or finishing bench. This is my hand tool and miter saw station. The straight BLO dries up fine since my shop is heated. I may slap a couple thinned coats on it with varnish for fun once it's bolted down and I put the trim on this weekend but I think it's pretty set for what I'm using it for as is.

[Gary Price]

Late post I know, but I'm no fan of BLO. I have it and use it from time to time, but I prefer tried and true.. Mix it with tung oil and either waterlux spar or thined with mineral spirits and its awesome on a workbench. I thin it with mineral spirits because turpentine stinks, but the tried and true is some thick stuff. I dont like to expose myself to heavy metal dryers. I don't like to use commercial grade tung oil either. I wouldn't use a waterlux spar with a work bench though...

[glenn bradley]

To Gary - Late info doesn't make it worth less. Thanks for posting your version.

[Gary Price]

Thank you Glenn.

[Rob Luter]

I just used BLO. My bench is a Maple slab with the rest of the structure made of construction lumber. I just wanted to seal it up. It takes a fair bit of abuse and I wasn't interested in anything but a "utility" finish. Here it is right after finishing. It has aged fairly well. I keep wax off the top. Back in high school (Jurassic era) we put paste wax on the benchtops to keep glue from sticking. It worked, but created a top that was way too slick. I'd rather have a top with some grip. I use wax paper as localized "drop cloths" under my glue-ups. It's cheap and re-usable. I can always scrape off glue drips that miss.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2583/4103275307_f30a5080da_b.jpg

[glenn bradley]

Rob, your bench design and dimensions made me stop and do a double take :D

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[Rob Luter]

Rob, your bench design and dimensions made me stop and do a double take :D

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Great minds think alike.

[Jim Becker]

I only use BLO on my workbench occasionally (after cleaning it up with my sander) to make it look nicer. It's simple. BLO/MS would be fine, but I wouldn't put wax on my workbench...I wouldn't want to contaminate a project component and compromise finishing.

[roger wiegand]

Not relevant to the OP, but why finish a workbench with anything? I've been using mine (made from beech) for about 25 years now without a finish because I figured it would either get banged up or contaminate stuff I was working on. It's developing a bit of a "patina" from various drips and drops of glue or finish over the years, but the top stays clean with a periodic pass of a scraper. What am I missing by not applying a finish to it?

[Howard Acheson]

Jim, I must say that I have been using wax as the final step on my benches for years. I've never found any affect on subsequent finishes.

I like to use a light application of wax so that I can more easily remove any adhesive that gets on to the bench surface. A wipe with a damp sponge takes care of it if I get to it in time. Even if the adhesive dries, the adhesive will pop right off using a cabinet scraper.

Merry Xmas to ya. Keep up the good moderating work.

[Jim Becker]

Howie, it's just my preference, and I find that I can easily scrape off glue spatters with the BLO "surface". No big deal.

[Will Boulware]

Not relevant to the OP, but why finish a workbench with anything? I've been using mine (made from beech) for about 25 years now without a finish because I figured it would either get banged up or contaminate stuff I was working on. It's developing a bit of a "patina" from various drips and drops of glue or finish over the years, but the top stays clean with a periodic pass of a scraper. What am I missing by not applying a finish to it?

I'm with this guy. Finish of any sort would just reduce the friction on the surface, so why bother? Mine gets planed flat once a year anyway. Why add another step?