What Oil Finish for Spruce Shaker Furniture?

[J_SAMa]

I've made a Shaker-esque clock out of spruce. Historically, what are some of the oil finishes mostly used by Shaker furniture makers?
Sam

 

[fetteler]

Hi Sam,
I hope you find this book of interest - especially Chapter IV 'Shaker Furniture Finishing'.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XD6J ... es&f=false

As you'd expect, boiled linseed oil makes an appearance :wink:

All the best,
Steve.

 

[J_SAMa]

What's this "stand oil"? I found this whilst looking for a linseed oil-based finish. How does it differ from BLO?
http://fine-tools.com/G-ardvos.html

Does stand oil need to be thinned for the first coat? If it does, can I thin it with camelia oil? It's the least viscous oil I have...

 

[marcros]

isnt stand oil, raw linseed oil that has been stood in the sun for some time (months), so that the uv light has started to polymerise it? I would thin it with (real) turpentine, at least I would BLO- about 70% oil: 30% turpentine. I believe stand oil is similar to BLO, but from before the days that BLO existed. With BLO, in reality, i just add a splash to thin it rather than measure- it will be somewhere near 70:30, give or take.

 

[fetteler]

What's this "stand oil"? I found this whilst looking for a linseed oil-based finish. How does it differ from BLO?
http://fine-tools.com/G-ardvos.html

Does stand oil need to be thinned for the first coat? If it does, can I thin it with camelia oil? It's the least viscous oil I have...

In reply to your question:
Yes it does - No you can't!
Marcros is correct in his description of stand oil. Use real turpentine to thin it but in all honesty boiled linseed oil is the same thing. I doesn't really matter by which mechanism the polymerisation is accelerated, the result is the same. You can of course use plain filtered linseed which will give the same results but wil just take longer to 'dry'.

Steve.