BLO and pens

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wmasters

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Jul 8, 2010
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Northvale, NJ
I see a lot of threads using BLO and CA, I'm currently not interested in CA but no one says how long they let BLO dry/cure before applying the CA. I use BLO for refinishing oak and let it set for at least a week before applying any wax. Does this hold true for pens also? Does rubbing it in while turning the piece cure it faster?
 
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Turn the pen, sand as usual, apply the boiled linseed oil then immediately followed with CA (I'm the guy who does CA BLO backards) or apply the CA and then the BlO on top. Apply several layers using the BLO and CA each time. The pen is now ready for some light sanding, or heavy sanding depending on how you do the CA then buff and polish. No waiting.

If boiled linseed oil is used by itself, then I think it takes several days or longer to totally dry and cure. Check Russ Fairfield's website at http://www.woodturnerruss.com to get answers to your finishing questions....and excellent resource.
Do a good turn daily!
don

wmasters said:
I see a lot of threads using BLO and CA, I'm currently not interested in CA but no one says how long they let BLO dry/cure before applying the CA. )use BLO for refinishing oak and let it set for at least a week before applying any wax. Does this hold true for pens also? Does rubbing it in while turning the piece cure it faster?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Don! I was given a piece of wood from the Ivory coast called Amazakoue which has a beautiful grain but the BLO really make the grain pop so for the guy that bought back the piece of wood back in the erarly 80s I wanted it to be special.
 
Just a quick point Walt , if you have a beautiful piece of wood and you make a pen with it , you will want it to remain looking good for as long as possible . BLO will not protect the wood for very long and soon that beautiful pen will start to "Take on a Patina" (read that as "Look like crap") , Learn some sort of lasting finish , CA , Lacquer , Poly , Plexi , Enduro , some kind of actual finish . BLO , Friction polish and those types of finish work great on other turnings like bowls and boxes but pens are handled and the natural oils and dirt on peoples hands will cause them to wear quickly and the grain to fill with the grunge from handling .
CA finishes are the fastest and easiest to do but have taken on the reputation of being very hard to do (they are only hard to do if you make them that way) .
Lacquer is a good finish but takes time to fully cure , still it's worth the time for a lasting finish .
Poly works as well as lacquer but also takes time to fully cure .
Plexi-tone has a learning curve thats as bad as CA for most people .
Enduro works well but falls somewhere between all the others in time and ease of finishing .
Put a good finish on your pens , in the end you'll be glad you did .
PM me if you have any questions .
 
wmasters said:
I see a lot of threads using BLO and CA, I'm currently not interested in CA but no one says how long they let BLO dry/cure before applying the CA. I use BLO for refinishing oak and let it set for at least a week before applying any wax. Does this hold true for pens also? Does rubbing it in while turning the piece cure it faster?
Click to expand...
BLO does not make a great finish for anything handled much (ie pens), but works OK on turnings that do not see much handling.
Yes, BLO will set faster if you turn the lathe speed up and apply some friction to heat it up.
 
Walt, a few of the people I have spoken to use the BLO on the rag to stop the CA sticking the rag to the blank. the layer of BLO assists the CA in flowing along the blank.
 
Thanks Sharon & Kev!
Sharon I checked out that youtube video and found that very useful.
I'm going to try his method over the weekend!
 
I would ad. If you want the wood to stay the color it is, right after sanding before finishing ,try some walnut oil ,it will in my experience not turn the wood darker.
Try it on a scrap piece, BLO on one end and walnut on the other. I think you can see the difference.
When I want to maintain the orginal color of the wood I do as follows,
after sanding I apply walnut oil and wipe off all excess, then do whatever finish I decide on. usually some sort of CA.
 
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