Boil one gallon ()low rolling boil) of Linseed oil with a 50 cent size of Lead Oxide..Supposedly used to get that beautiful old English Red/Brown color and it is supposed to darken with age..Drawback is boil it outside and don't breath it..

I tried it, could not get a "rolling boil" only foam, and ended up with a thick stuff that turned wood to a nice color and it got darker over night, took a week to dry...I used it 50-50 with Mineral spirits..

don't think I like it but perhaps I am doing something wrong..

It was highly recommeded by a well known stock maker..

Anybody know about this stuff. I checked it out as to its toxicitaty (is that a word) and it appears that the folks in the know on the internet say its dangerous but all thier studies don't prove it so they leave you hanging on that, go figure, its a gov. study.

Ray, you sure you got the recipie right? That sounds like a Cajun low country boil for mudbugs.

Mudbugs? not sure what they are other than I imagine a cajun would eat them..I have been thinking about emailing my cajun buddies and telling them presidents are good table fare, that should solve all the world problems.

Ray, Mudbugs are crawdads, or crayfish, depending on where you are from.

It sounds like your making your own BOL from Raw. Why not start with warm BOL and the Lead Oxide.

rich

http://www.higalv.co.uk/technical-issues-lead.asp

Almost unavailable now due to its toxicity, this paint was based on linseed oil and lead oxide and often called red lead, as it is red in colour. Lead tetra-oxide as it is chemically known is soluble in hydrochloric acid (which is present in the stomach) hence its toxicity. Can be brush, roller or spray applied

I would not want anything other then a lead slug in my gun. Let alone lead based coating.

there's a reason it's an old recipe. it's dangerous

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
with all due respect, why would anyone want that touching their face or rubbing on their face while they are shooting?

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
I would not want anything other then a lead slug in my gun. Let alone lead based coating.

there's a reason it's an old recipe. it's dangerous

I agree with you both and I am also a bit neurotic about toxic garbage around me and my family. But I really do have to wonder if we shorten our lives more from the stress caused by worrying about this stuff. I mean, how much lead could you get from touching your face to a rifle stock that has a finish that contains lead?

I would worry about the guy who finishes stocks with this stuff.....

Didn't toothpaste used to come in lead tubes?

---------------

On a different thought, I used to worry about this same subject when I read that Melvin Forbes used Dupont Variprime as the base coat on his synthetic stocks. That stuff(Variprime) is(or was 20+ years ago) full of lead and chroimum and other heavy metals.

quote:

Didn't toothpaste used to come in lead tubes?

No it was tin.

Darwin calls in many ways.

Toothpaste DID come in lead tubes, but probably long before you were born. When empty and rolled up they were deadly sling shot missles.

I wouldn't use what you are using / made in a fit. You'd breath in enough of the powder coming off the stock to kill you over time.


Anyway, I thought the reddish colour was from a root or something similar - ie a plant. I am sure my stock maker said that as he had some in a bottle.

Ray, the word is "Toxicity".



Edit
I called him. It's called Alkanet root

"Stockmakers make up their own oil finishes using Linseed Oil, with the addition of powdered Alkanet Root. The Alkanet root gives the reddish colour."


I also noticed this root stain - 2nd one down:-

"CN042
Ultra Old London Root stain, 30 ml bottle. An Alkanet root oil Mixture which when applied to the reconditioned woodwork prior to oiling, will produce the traditional redish brown walnut colour exhibited upon the best gunstocks & greatly enhance the figureing. "

http://www.gunspares.co.uk/sho...2&cat=Ultra+Gunstock

.

I understand that Purdey's slacum oil included butter of antimony as a wood darkener.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Boil .. a 50 cent size of Lead Oxide

bad idea, and now your stock is toxic waste.

http://cartwright.chem.ox.ac.u...s/lead_II_oxide.html

quote:

Originally posted by 500N:
It's called Alkanet root

"Stockmakers make up their own oil finishes using Linseed Oil, with the addition of powdered Alkanet Root. The Alkanet root gives the reddish colour."

Duane Wiebe sells packets of ground Alkanet root for about $12(including postage) through his website.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by 500N:
It's called Alkanet root

"Stockmakers make up their own oil finishes using Linseed Oil, with the addition of powdered Alkanet Root. The Alkanet root gives the reddish colour."

Duane Wiebe sells packets of ground Alkanet root for about $12(including postage) through his website.

I'd be surprised if it wasn't available from numerous sources in the US
with the number of stock makers you have over there.

.

quote:

Originally posted by Ole Miss Guy:
Toothpaste DID come in lead tubes, but probably long before you were born. When empty and rolled up they were deadly sling shot missles.

Oldmissed
explains a lot about you and your sling shot

quote:

Duane Wiebe sells packets of ground Alkanet root for about $12(including postage) through his website.

Yes, and his kit comes with rolling papers!

Today linseed oil comes with chemical 'driers' so no need to boil. As a wood finish linseed oil both oxidizes and polymerizes over time and in the process darkens. It also makes the finish more durable though still not waterproof .

I agree the red enhancement you want is likely to be found in the Alkanet root preparation. I have never heard of mixing lead oxide with linseed oil to get a red finish, but it may well be possible, I don't know.

With respect to the 50 cent sized bit of lead mixed into a GALLON of linseed oil killing you--- DON'T EAT THAT ELMER---IT's A ROAD APPLE!!!(horse turd for you city guys)

If you put (seal) the lead oxide up inside a paint finish it IS NOT going to get into your system if you put your face up against the stock! IF you are an adult and you chewed the finish off a dozen or so stocks you MIGHT get sick. Lead poisioning is caused by INGESTING lead (oxide in this case) NOT from getting it on your skin (no matter what Al Gore told you)!

For goodness sake do some research before you start perpetuating the myths put out by the antigunners!!! Have a great day!

My original post was and is based on having to MAKE it. Not just being exposed to it.
RD you are correct that you must ingest the lead in the paint, varnish, or this case Linseed oil finish to get sick. But the lead is not necessarily sealed inside the finish unless you apply something over the top that is lead free.

You can still pick up minute amounts of lead just from handling it. We also pick up lead and other heavy metals just by handling our ammunition and reloading components. The fact is you will be exposed to lead with a finish that contains lead.

The issue is HOW MUCH lead?? And I'd be willing to bet that you will be exposed to more lead just from loading your rifle. Handling the lead based finish would probably be near harmless.
My only issue is in it's manufacture. That is where the highest risk to lead exposure exists

And if you are an adult and you are found to be chewing on a rifle stock like a teething ring you have more problems then lead poisoning

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Boil one gallon ()low rolling boil) of Linseed oil with a 50 cent size of Lead Oxide..Supposedly used to get that beautiful old English Red/Brown color and it is supposed to darken with age..Drawback is boil it outside and don't breath it..

I tried it, could not get a "rolling boil" only foam, and ended up with a thick stuff that turned wood to a nice color and it got darker over night, took a week to dry...I used it 50-50 with Mineral spirits..

don't think I like it but perhaps I am doing something wrong..

It was highly recommeded by a well known stock maker..

Anybody know about this stuff. I checked it out as to its toxicitaty (is that a word) and it appears that the folks in the know on the internet say its dangerous but all thier studies don't prove it so they leave you hanging on that, go figure, its a gov. study.

While a hand-rubbed linseed oil finish is about the most beautiful finish known, it is also the lousiest in terms of protection and ease of application. It was used in the past because that's about all they had and it was in plentiful supply. Many years ago, definitive tests were run by a noted gunsmith relative to the permeability of wood finishes to moisture. Spar varnish was the best followed closely by(don't cringe)- shellac! Both were in excess of 90% resistant to moisture. Linseed oil and BLO were about the worst - less than 50% resistant.

I think linseed oil's best use nowadays is as a "sealer stain". No other finish brings out wood grain like it. Once set and cured, it can be top coated with a good, thinned spar varnish or polyurethane for a great weather-resistant finish.

If you want to brew your own oil, just simmer it outdoors uncovered for about 2 hrs. Stir frequently to incorporate oxygen into the oil. This will aid in the oxidation and polymerization. Then add a teaspoon of Japan Drier at the end. It should dry in 24 hrs at room temp and under 50% RH. Japan Drier is a metallic drier that does not contain lead. Don't mess with lead oxide unless you just want to reproduce an antique formula. Use appropriate respiratory precautions and of course don't ingest it.

I studied English stock finishings from English stock finishers (that is theiur entire job - to finish stocks) and English gunmakers/repairers several years ago. I leanred a lot and wound up with i donb't know how many different formulae, many of which i brewed up myself. I used all sorts of pieces of English walnut scraps and tested many of them. After comparing the look of the finish and how it looked on pieces of wood from different walnut trees I setteled on a few that i liked the best. if you are going to be truly trying to get the most from a custom wood stock, the most advisable path to take is to take scraps from th eblank, sand them just like the stock, and try different finishes.

I learned a lot about finsihing in my research and correspondence. One thing i learned is that everyone you talked to could rattle off several formualas of red oil (name used most often to me), slacum, finishing oil, or whatever that person wanted to call it. there is no, and never has been a "formula." The total number of oil mixtures has to be well over 1000. It always makes me chuckle when i read on this board soemthing to the effect of "the real formula" or "true alkanet oil."

Some things I learned:

First, some stock finishers MOST CERTAINLY DID ADD LEAD TO THEIR FINISH. It was to give a red tint. it was, and still is, a fairly toxic way to go about making your own redoil/finishing oil.

Second, most finishers will tell you their preffered blend, and some will go so far as to flood you with different variations on the theme.

Third, many of the purist stock finishers will not you ground root, but rather will crumble pieces of alkanet root and use that for their mixtures. Does it really matter? For the life of me I can't remember the reason, but whatever it was their explanation was enough to make me only use solid (non-powder) alkanet root. I fooled with the powder in a few mixtures, but just stuck with the solid stuff. So much of gunmaking, especially finishing wooden stocks is voo doo anyway, so go with what makes you feel the warmest and fuzziest.

Fourth, alkanet root is readily available almost anywhere and it is very inexpensive. If I did not care about ground vs. solid alkanet root, I personally would just order it from Duane. It would be the least I could do to show my appreciation for all of the info he has given us.

Fifth, one guy gave me some formulas using madder root. He swore up and down that it would make a nice red oil, but looked different than an akanet root based red oil. He may have just been screwing with me because I couldn't get it to make slacum turn any color at all. Hell, ity may have even made it more clear!

Six, Michale Petrov turned me onto Grumbacher linseed oil and turpentine. It is some of the most "pure" or "high grade" linseed oil thta you can get. BTW-if any of you have favourite, high quality brands I would love to hear about them!!! Whatever brand you go with, the linseed oil made by cold pressing the flax seeds. There really is a huge difference between something like Grumbach and what I can get in gallon cans at my local hardware store.

Seven, raw linseed oil is more "pure" and consistent from batch to batch because none of the chemicals were added to make it "boiled." There may have beemn some confusion in earlier posts, so for the record, "boiled linseed oil" is not made by boiling it, but by rather adding chemicals to it. This should make it dry faster and harder than "raw linseed oil" made from the same batch of flax seeds. BLO is defintely a different color and behaves differently. Raw oil will set up and harden enough for a stock finish, but it will take longer to dry nbetween coats and will always be a little "mushy," so to speak. Flexibilty is a good property because it will not make sections of the stock finish pop off or crack or craze.

BTW-adding Japan Drier or cobalt to any linseed oil will make it harden up quicker and should make it actually harder than linseed oil without either of these added. THese chemicals both are not so great to handle and are most certainly bad for you, so use due care.

BTW Number B-Daly's Ship n' Shore sealer also behaves like raw linseed oil, i.e.-never truly hardening. I just learned that this week from a technical guy at Daly's. He said if he was finsihing a gunstock, he would use one coat of Ship n' Shore and then use Seafin Teak Oil for the rest of the finish. He was uber nice and helpful, taking a lot of time to explain answers to questions i had. A lot of technical guys can be not the greatest comminucators with lay-people,but this guy got a double thumbs up from me.

Eight, because different pieces of the same species of wood will react so differently to various stock formulas i really do reccomend keeping a few different mixtures on hand. Tests the scraps off the blank and see which one does the wood the most justice.

Nine, even though you do not actually boil linseed oil to make boiled linseed oil, many of the god-only-knows-how-many of the red oil/stock oil/slacum formulas do invovle actually boiling the mixture. Depends on the formula and what is being added.

Ten, linseed oil realy will spontaneously combust and proper safeguards should be taken when mixing and using the oil, and properly disposing of rags or paper towels that were used that have linssed oil or linseed oil based red oil on them

My hands are shot, so no more

skunk out

quote:

There may have beemn some confusion in earlier posts, so for the record, "boiled linseed oil" is not made by boiling it, but by rather adding chemicals to it.

Original boiled linseed oil was indeed made by boiling it. When the knowledge to add driers to raw linseed oil was acquired, they quit boiling it, but retained the name because of it's public acceptance.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

There may have beemn some confusion in earlier posts, so for the record, "boiled linseed oil" is not made by boiling it, but by rather adding chemicals to it.

Original boiled linseed oil was indeed made by boiling it. When the knowledge to add driers to raw linseed oil was acquired, they quit boiling it, but retained the name because of it's public acceptance.

bmeister-

thank you very much for the post! always wonder why TF they called it "boiled" when jsut chemicals were added.

do you know how they used to handle the raw oil and boil it?

have you ever boiled just plain raw lso?

how does boiled, raw lso perform in terms of finish quality, how hard it gets, hardening time, etc?

as emntioend above, i have only boiled it when a formula called for it. your post has me wanting to do soem experiments!

thankya!!!

skunk out

btw- are you a stockmaker, woodworker, work for achemical company, or...? just curious about why you learned stuff about lso. i am pretty nerdy and love learning stuff like finsihes, different treatments for wood, etc.

Shellac and lacquer are two solid finished that actually "melt" the previous coat to create a monolithic coating. A lightly rubbed out shellac (or lacquer) finish is silky to the touch. Shellac (blonde) also imparts very little color change to the wood.

Shellac does have problems with water. "how many times do I have to tell you to use a coaster", Mom told you that for a reason.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc_Stokeld:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

There may have beemn some confusion in earlier posts, so for the record, "boiled linseed oil" is not made by boiling it, but by rather adding chemicals to it.

Original boiled linseed oil was indeed made by boiling it. When the knowledge to add driers to raw linseed oil was acquired, they quit boiling it, but retained the name because of it's public acceptance.

bmeister-

thank you very much for the post! always wonder why TF they called it "boiled" when jsut chemicals were added.

do you know how they used to handle the raw oil and boil it?

have you ever boiled just plain raw lso?

how does boiled, raw lso perform in terms of finish quality, how hard it gets, hardening time, etc?

as emntioend above, i have only boiled it when a formula called for it. your post has me wanting to do soem experiments!

thankya!!!

skunk out

btw- are you a stockmaker, woodworker, work for achemical company, or...? just curious about why you learned stuff about lso. i am pretty nerdy and love learning stuff like finsihes, different treatments for wood, etc.

According to several sources,boiled linseed oil was originally made by simmering/low boiling the raw oil in an open iron kettle for several hours while stirring it with a ladle. The ladel helps to incorporate atmospheric oxygen into the oil, where combined with heat, initiates cross-linking of the oil molecules. Once this cross-linking begins, the oil begins to cure. If spread out in a thin film, the process continues until the film hardens. Raw linseed oil will do this, but it takes a long time and never hardens as well as boiled oil or oil with driers. Simmering the oil also cooks and hardens organics in the oil and they float to the top in a froth. By skimming this froth and then filtering the finished product thru cheesecloth(or a paint filter), you get a nice amber product, relatively free of impurities.

At sea level, 80 degrees F and less than 50% RH, BLO will dry to recoat in 24 hrs. High altitude, cold and high humidity can cause it to take as long as a week. If you do much finishing with BLO, it pays to build a drying cabinet where you can control the variables.

Folks later learned to add tree resins to the simmering oil and this led to the development of the first varnishes. If you thin BLO with turpentine, some of the resins actually get cured in the final product and create a superior BLO finish. Small amounts of BLO can be added to shellac to improve shellac's tendency to chip and peel according to one author. You can actually thin a good varnish with mineral spirits or turpentine and get a quick drying in-the-wood finish virtually identical to BLO in appearance, but without the serious water issues. These are called wiping varnishes and can be hand rubbed in just like BLO. That is what I use nowadays, unless I am re-producing an antique finish.

I've been finishing/re-finishing wood for over 40 years both as a hobby and professionally as a gunsmith. In that time I have done a good bit of research and applied a lot of BLO, but never made it from raw oil. I took a good bit of chemistry in college and worked for a chemical co. several years as well. Also, I brew my own rust blues based on original formulas.

quote:

Originally posted by richj:
Shellac and lacquer are two solid finished that actually "melt" the previous coat to create a monolithic coating. A lightly rubbed out shellac (or lacquer) finish is silky to the touch. Shellac (blonde) also imparts very little color change to the wood.

Shellac does have problems with water. "how many times do I have to tell you to use a coaster", Mom told you that for a reason.

Yes, shellac does show a white ring if you leave water on it, but this is only in the surface layer. It is virtually impermeable under that. That's why you can rub the white ring out with cigar ash.

quote:

Originally posted by Ole Miss Guy:
Toothpaste DID come in lead tubes, but probably long before you were born. When empty and rolled up they were deadly sling shot missles.

When I started casting bullets the lead I bought at the scrap yard was lead water pipe! I ask the owner where it came from. He said it was commonly used in large buildings in the past and while it hasn't been used in many years there is still tons of it in the walls and cielings of old buildings. It's scraped during remodels or demolition. It was pure lead and 100% free of garbage. I still have coffee cans full of it.

Terry

And this is why proper stock finishing costs some serious $$$!!

Very interesting and informative thread!

JW

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
with all due respect, why would anyone want that touching their face or rubbing on their face while they are shooting?

You're overreacting, the finished product isn't going to hurt anyone.

Elemental lead is pretty harmless, that's the reason people can get shot and carry around a lead slug for the next 50 years with no ill effects. For lead to be harmful it has to be in a salt form, like the lead oxide used as a hardener in the linseed oil. Lead salts are capable of getting into the bloodstream and doing bad things to your brain/nervous system. After the lead salts do their job and initiate the polymerization of the oil they're trapped inside the finish. It's not going to harm you unless you eat it, rubbing your face up against it isn't going to do it. It's the same as the paint in old buildings that they're always removing, the stuff doesn't harm anybody until it starts peeling and kids ingest it, and they have to eat a lot of paint for it to have any real effect on them.

Boiling the linseed oil with the lead salt in it isn't healthy and I wouldn't want to do it without a fume hood or a respirator, and I'd wear gloves when working with it. Once it's dried, however, it's safe unless you plan on eating it.

bmeister-

thanks so much for the info!!! i have been thinking about it and will defintely get soem mroe grumbacher lso and turps and do soem experimenting.

most of the finishes i mix have turps or some have mineral spirits. any idea if there is atipping point on the volume of turps to add simmering lso to have enough resin to make the lso have better stock finish properties or increase cross-linking? btw- when in engineering graduate school i studied materials and most of it was dealing with various polimers and understand a lot about cross-linking.

is there a certain temperature (i know pressure is also a variable here) and humidity that you have found to be the tipping point for blo to speed up crosslinking and shortening drying time while at the same time resisting the chance of putting enough dry heat into the stock to make the wood shrink?

i am guess that no matter how quiickly blo is dried that even with uber high levels of cross-linking the finish would still be very flexible? i would think that it could not cross-link fast enough to make it hard, but drittle. does that jive with your real world experiences?

again, thank you very much for your help!!!

btw-any brands of raw or boiled lso, turps, or mineral spirits that you reccomend?

skunk out

When applying blo the first time to raw wood, heat the stock before applying the oil. Then oil the stock and let it dry in a drying cabinet heated to 10-20 degrees below the original pre-heat temp. Otherwise, heating the stock will push the oil out of the pores and give you little dots of dried blo all over the stock you will have to cut back. Applying oil to a hot stock and letting it cool a bit, allows the oil to be sucked into the pores. Keep applying oil to the stock during the cool-down period until it will soak up no more. Then wipe it down and let dry for at least 3 days. After that, you can heat the stock up to about 90 to 100 degrees F to cure subsequent applications.

Don't add turps to the mix while boiling. Only after it has cooled. The resin is already dissolved in the turps as part of the "spirit" and the solvent part will boil off. If you are adding solid resins like amber, balsam, etc. you need to grind it fine and add to the simmering oil to dissolve/melt it in. The finish will be very flexible(and permeable) no matter how much you boil it. Just make sure you thin it with the turps to aid in wood penetration. Because of the cross-linking, blo has poorer penetration than raw oil. 3 parts blo to 1 part turps. Adding resins will increase hardness in proportion to the resin added until you have a hard varnish.

The Grummbachers should be the best. I have used several brands of hardware store blo and turps with equal success.

I have not used this stuff, I just made a bit of it as I was interested in some of the old recipes and thought maybe someone knew about its use on rifle stocks..I recall a few years ago I used the African recipe made with egg shells and it turned out pretty nice on a sample piece of wood..

I have not had much luck with Alkanet root, but had the original plant and boiled it in Linseed, maybe I needed to powder it, so maybe I will try that..

I use Brownells Gun SavR, and sometime Pilkingtons red oil, in fact I have probably used almost every known finish there is, and if I want a red/brown I finish a stock and the last thing I do is cut the finish down to the wood then dye it with that new rusty red from Beachwood casey, rub it down and then add a couple of coats of Gun SavR or Pilkingtons red oil, as does Jerry Fisher. Truth is most finishes are good and its how they are applied that makes the difference, some can use one better than the other.

I read up on toxicity of lead in Linseed on the internet and it appears there is a over reaction to its health disturbing benefits, in that there is no proof at all as to it being a health hazzard, just suspect, but what about all those finishes out there such as the popular Varathane that has Tuanol (?) I think thats the right word..Most all of the new finishes have some suspect contents, but then so does sliced white bread so I wouldn't get to anal about putting the old gun stock to your cheek!

But the quesion was does anyone know about boiling Linseed with lead oxide, or have the used it..The English used it.

Thanks bolt man, that is the conclusion I came to and as I boiled it (outside) I was carefull to give it a lot of room..Frankly it is too much trouble to make and I see little if any improvement in color with or without out as compared to Linseed oil and actually if I wanted a Linseed oil finsih I would use Linspeed, its a pretty good finish and darkens wood fairly well, and its easy to use and goes well with a dye as does the tung oil modified Urathanes such as True Oil..All good stuff.

You guys got me thinking back to boarding school. We used to flatten out an old lead colgate tube and screw the cap back on and then heat it on a fire for about a minute and it would expand full of air. We would then fill it with water, close the cap & again heat it with fire. After the water got boiling inside, it would suddenly blow out of the back end sealt and shoot like a rocket for about 50 yards!

Sorry for the trivial divergance from topic!

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:

quote:

Originally posted by Ole Miss Guy:
Toothpaste DID come in lead tubes, but probably long before you were born. When empty and rolled up they were deadly sling shot missles.

Oldmissed
explains a lot about you and your sling shot

quote:

alkanet root

Thanks for this great thread. I found that I can get alkanet root 125 gms for $12 here in NZ. They use it in cosmetics for colouring oils and soap! They get even blue coloured soap by adjusting quantities. What interesting stuff you learn even in this high tech age.

I am working on restocking my 1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer & was wanting to get that classic red look.

One question, will alkanet root work with TruOil? I did my first full stock with Truoil 20+ coats and was very please with the finish except that the colour ws paler than I wanted. It would be great if the alkanet root mixed well with Truoil - then I can just go ahead with it like last time and a bit more information.

One more question - Can I use Boiled Linseed oil with alkanet root & then finish with Tru-oil on top for better water resistance? Will Truoil stick & penetrate the wood after it has been treated with BLO?

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:

quote:

alkanet root

One more question - Can I use Boiled Linseed oil with alkanet root & then finish with Tru-oil on top for better water resistance? Will Truoil stick & penetrate the wood after it has been treated with BLO?

tru-oil and linseed oil are 100% compatible. I have applied thinned BLO, stained, then finished with tru-oil.

quote:

Originally posted by delloro:

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:

quote:

alkanet root

One more question - Can I use Boiled Linseed oil with alkanet root & then finish with Tru-oil on top for better water resistance? Will Truoil stick & penetrate the wood after it has been treated with BLO?

tru-oil and linseed oil are 100% compatible. I have applied thinned BLO, stained, then finished with tru-oil.

I agree. That sounds like a great plan.

Thanks guys. AR really rocks! Now I am confident I can improve on something I have done quite well before and know that I won't screw up!

Has anyone infused Alkatane root in Tru-Oil????

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Thanks guys. AR really rocks! Now I am confident I can improve on something I have done quite well before and know that I won't screw up!

Has anyone infused Alkatane root in Tru-Oil????

I haven't done it, but I would try first to extract the color by soaking the root in mineral spirits. Then use the filtered spirits to thin the Tru-Oil.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
as does the tung oil modified Urathanes such as True Oil.

Truoil uses polymerized linseed oil and I don't think there is any urethane in it.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Has anyone infused Alkatane root in Tru-Oil????

Yes
Turns it black. Doesn't work like Linseed.
You can also soak the root in turpentine or mineral spirits and use it as a stain.
sanding will break through the color.

Try the cutoffs like Marc mentioned above.