Re: Henry's 55 Constellation

Posted by BH On 2013/6/27 8:40:26

Hank -

From many years ago, I recall linseed oil being used by hunters to refinish their gun stocks, but I only recently had opportunity to play around with BLO myself, in a woodworking project. It took several applications to build up a satisfactory gloss to the sanded red oak test piece, but the BLO really brought out the grain. Yet, it didn't appear to work so well over stain, and I ended up using a wipe-on tung oil finish for that project.

Still, I used BLO to dress up the worn wooden handles on some garden tools, and it dried quickly and blended in nicely. However, I made it a point to wipe off any excess after the time specified - that is, that which did not soak in, especially over areas still covered with their original finish. Though I've seen where BLO is recommended as an off-season rust preventative for the iron/steel parts of same tools, I haven't used it in that way myself, but intend to.

I have a good feeling that the properties of linseed oil help it penetrate, bind to, and seal rusty metal, but I don't think it was ever intended, alone, as a topcoat/clearcoat over existing finishes.

Can't reallly offer any advice WRT removal of the BLO without damaging the nitro finish - perhaps a call to the manufacturer will help.