blo dry time

[Rick Peek]

Is it really neccesary to dry blo for a 4 days to a week?
When I apply a finish on scrap wood, I do it all in about
an hour. Trans tint dye..dry it for an hour,apply blo,dry for
a couple of minutes spray with shellac or laquer. I have
to say,I have a bunch of finished scrap hanging around
for a year,and it looks perfect. In some cases better
than to final product.

[Dave Anderson NH]

The definitive answer is, "it depends.":D BLO drying is very depenent on a number of factors, temperature, humidity, and how heavily it is applied. Temps in the 70F+ range will dry the BLO faster than temps below 60F. High humidity levels will increase drying time to a "worst case" of as much as 3-5 days. The factor that varies the most however is the amount applied. A heavy coat which is left in place for half an hour and then has the excess removed will take longer to dry than a coat which has been diluted with a solvent such as turpentine, mineral spirits, or naptha. Conversely, diluted BLO will take more coats to get a good build. I just did an application yesterday on some carvers mallets I'm building. I used a mix of 75% BLO and 25% naptha. With the shop at 75F, due to the wood stove and the humidity at 30%, I will be ready to make the second application today after only 16 hours. It is really important that all excess BLO be removed from the surface of the wood if you want quick drying and curing.

[Rick Peek]

I guess what I'm really asking,is it neccesary to dry it at all?
Obviously its not dry as I have applied shellac right after
application. Seems to work fine. I thought I read an article
by Jeff Jewitt stating that it could be done.

[Jim Becker]

You can top coat BLO relatively "soon" with shellac, but in general, allowing it to cure is a good idea otherwise. I tried Jeff's technique when I built a tiger maple candle stand not long ago and was successful. I only did that on the spindle and legs and finished the top using more normal drying times...just to be sure.

[Rick Peek]

Thats mainly what I am using it on (tiger maple). All my test
scrap has come out perfect with no drying, (applied shellac within
an hour of BLO application.