Thomas Moser Finish?

[Woody]

For some reason I have been getting Thomas Moser's catalog recently, not that I would ever spend that much on furniture! I was in Boston last week looking at colleges with my son, and I saw one of their stores. The furniture is nice, but unexceptional; certainly nothing to justify the price. Their finish though was fabulous; much better than I have done. It looks almost like a piece of goncalo alves I did to 800 grit. They say they use hot linseed oil and wax. I have a oiled cherry bookcase I just made, and a

15 year old can of paste wax I bought to ease the centerboard on my sailboat; so I put the two together. It makes my stuff look more like Moser's, but it is still not there. Is there some secret that is going over my head? Does hot oil make a difference? I've never heard of that. I am tempted to try scraping rather than sanding, but I doubt they scrape. In the meanwhile I am trying to convince myself that my finish has a nicer "wood" look to it; and theirs looks like plastic.

[bridger]

the problem is with your linseed oil. you have to stop buying it and start stealing it. you'll never get hot linseed oil if you pay for it....

[George]

Hot oil flows in better - less viscosity. You can dilute too, but that carries less solids, and you have to double coat. Bit of a boost in speed of polymerization, too, I suppose.

Old crockpot or frybaby on low warms the linseed real well if you don't want to go the double boiler route. Rub with the grain and watch it disappear, rather than sit there. It does wonderful things to pine, and seems to color cherry more rapidly than using an oil-based finish. Maybe it's that "yellowing" drawback to BLO - the one that keeps you from using it where you want white wood.

[Larry Jaques]

Not even if he rubs two cans together reeeeeal quicklike?

----------------------------------------- Jack Kevorkian for Congressional physician!

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[mkl]

You should go to

and under the company tab take the shop tour. They pretty much describe how they apply the finish. Heated to 170 degrees, apply, let it set for 1 hour then wipe off. The next day burnish with steel wool and apply the same process. After that buff with butcher block wax.

And if you get a chance to come to Maine give them a call and take a tour of their shop.

[Woody]

Thanks. I don't think I have seen the hot oil or burnishing after oil recommended before. I will give it a try.

[Andy Dingley]

Ask a gunsmith. There are lots of gunstocking formulations that rely on an undried linseed, applied hot. Some are heated to reduce their viscosity. This makes them soak in better, so undried linseed's slow curing isn't a problem with the usual "sticky layer" if you apply too much. Some recipes are heated so much that they begin to polymerise, from the heat (and air) alone.

If you find a copy, a well-known old '30s book called "Modern Gunsmithing" is a good text on stocking and has interesting sections on finishing. It's two volumes - one volume is relevant to woodworkers, the other is all about actions and barrels.