Hi all, Thanks for the help with the screen door question. Couldn't find the Wood mag. article but the rest of the info helped alot. My next question; I want to know if Boiled linseed Oil has a shelf life. I have an old(15yo, at least) can and wondered if I could still use it. I've never used BLO before so just trying it out won't mean much for me. Thanks, CHARLIE
Wow... Charlie... BLO is CHEAP. If you are going to take the time to do the finishing work, why scrimp on the finish? At least 15 years old? Why take a chance? Drop that $4-$5 on a quart and sleep well at night knowing you did the right thing.
Robert
If it doesn't have chunks, yes it is fine to use.
Depends. If it's 15 years old, it's probably solid. If it's 50 years old (old enough to have used lead driers) and the lid was tight against moisture, then it's just about ready. The age behaviour of boiled linseed oil depends a lot on how it was prepared - which metal was used as the siccative ? Was it de-acidified ? How has it been stored ?
If it still flows, then it probably still works. But if it had any iron in it (often for a coloured oil) then it'll remain sticky for ever more and will never fully cure on the surface.
Personally I'd bin it.
why not just try it on a piece of scrap and see?
Put a bit on a scrap from your project and see what happens. If you want to take the wood out of the equation, pour a small pool on a sheet of glass, wait overnight, see what happens. There have been several threads here started by lamenting WWers who used a finish only to have it never dry...
if it's still fluid it's good to go. thin the amount you're going to use to the consistency you need.
Definitely. I bought a quart at an estate sale and when I opened it, it had gelled. Don't know how old it was, but definitely over 10 years.
Of course, I only paid a quarter for it :-).
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