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Boiled Linseed Oil and Paint Thinner for Rust

stuball48

Stainless
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Location
Dickson, TN
Has anyone had any experience with using a mixture of boiled linseed oil and paint thinner as a rust preventitive? An old clock maker swears by it for steel springs. I do not have any idea as to what ratio of each. He says, "a few drops of boiled linseed oil in a little paint thinner."
 
I tried straight boiled linseed on some black oxided steel candle sticks - it wouldn't dry, even after weeks it remained tacky. I removed it and sprayed with clear laquer....much easier.

My bottle says that boiled linseed dries faster than raw linseed.

Would be good to hear if the thinner mix sets hard.
 
In classic paint and varnish making, cobalt napthenate was added as driers. If you know what you are doing you actually boil the linseed oil at 300C for quite a while.

I Googled to check my memory was holding out

Cheers

Norm
 
I use boiled linseed oil to coat antique hand tools , both for wood parts and metal parts. It does retard rust, and provides a mellow, slightly brown patina. I would not use it for a working machine surface, however, since it is a bit soft and gummy. You don't actually boil it yourself; as pointed out above, chemical dryers already added to the oil help it to dry, and distinguish "boiled" oil from "raw" linseed oil. Turpentine is the customary solvent for diluting linseed oil. Linseed oil does have a distinctive odor, however, that will last for weeks.
 
Even if it worked, what's the point, when there are anti rust sprays out there ready to use that work even better ? If LPS3 or Boeshield seem too expensive (8 to 10 bucks per can), CRC makes one that seems to be like LPS3 for about 5 bucks a can.

Or is it you just like the idea of conjuring up your own "brew" under the delusion that you're "creating" something unique ?
 
Don,
Don't you realise that linseed and cannabis belong to the same family?

Of course, we don't want to encourage this knowledge.

Excuse me, my plants for making 'varnish' need watering! Of course, give someone enough rope and they will- go off to another world.
 
Even if it worked, what's the point, when there are anti rust sprays out there ready to use that work even better ? If LPS3 or Boeshield seem too expensive (8 to 10 bucks per can), CRC makes one that seems to be like LPS3 for about 5 bucks a can.

Or is it you just like the idea of conjuring up your own "brew" under the delusion that you're "creating" something unique ?
I think the point of it is that they are totally different "products".


1) The linseed etc is fairly effective for longer term on weathering sufaces. The boeshield I understand is pretty much for protected surfaces, while LPS is an oil only, and leaves no particularly hard protective material.

2) it can be applied to an already rusted (but dry) surface, and will prevent further rusting, leaving a protective skin. The Boeshield is best on a clean surface, and the oily products are limited in their staying power.

3) the linseed etc is economically effective for larger areas. You can afford to slush fairly large objects with it. The Boeshield is pretty expensive.... "specialty stuff" yah know..... The LPS I don't know about, but I would suppose it is competitive in cost with the libnseed, area for area, but probably less effective long term.

The linseed treatment is really somewhat like "paint". Boeshield is a wax, and the others are more like oil treatments.


Surplusjohn....

Linseed, and other "drying" oils that have available crosslinking sites on the molecules do have a "hazardous polymerization" issue, and can spontaneously combust due to heat build-up. The reaction is exothermic, and if the rag is wadded up it can reach ignition temps.

It doesn't take much, one wadded rag is enough in a warm area. Definitely a good caution.

I don't think turps can, it is fairly volatile, and I am not aware of it forming a polymerized material before it evaporates.

Many vegetable oils will eventually polymerize if left out long enough also, but they as a rule won't do it fast enough to build up heat. Otherwise one would mix up paint with Mazola.....
 
LPS3 and CRC Marine are not "oily" products but simply a hardening form of cosmoline...the best anti rust protection yet devised by man. Petroleum based I suppose but they dry to a non stick surface...sorta like soft (but dry) varnish. They too can be applied to already rusted surfaces and will prevent futher rusting.

Point is some "old clock maker" with a "secret" forumla sounds good to the newbie, esp when it involves something as "old timey" and "natural sounding" as "boiled linseed oil" :rolleyes: but chemical researchers have been working on this sort of thing for hundreds of years and have ready on the shelf the results of said research, ready for you to dip the brush or push the button on the can ;)
 
I was not aware that LPS3 was the thick greasy cosmoline..... I thought it was a spray can stuff..... The CRC marine I am not familiar with at all....

Cosmoline is good stuff.... the real cosmoline. Better than needed in many cases where you want to stop rust, or where you do NOT want a greasy coating.

For a quick and available rust-stopper for general use, I can see the point of the "weak paint" approach using linseed etc. It is available, not too expensive, easy to apply, eventually dries and isn't greasy and penetrates well,.
 
I was not aware that LPS3 was the thick greasy cosmoline..... I thought it was a spray can stuff.....
And you still aren't because it's not...not greasy that is ;) It is typically bought in aerosol cans but I'm pretty sure it's available in cans for brush on as well. CRC Marine seems to be identical stuff.
 
Stuball48, did you take your handle from the record by Lonnie Donnegan?

If I were storing a machine for a while I would use anything that would protect it from rust including linseed oil. Anything you use that is really good is not going to come off easy or it isn't very good to start with.
 
If I were storing a machine for a while I would use anything that would protect it from rust including linseed oil. Anything you use that is really good is not going to come off easy or it isn't very good to start with.
Seeing as how the reports in this very thread seem to indicate that the linseed oil "never drys" at worst and is still "soft and gummy" at best, I should think products such as LPS3 and CRC Marine would last longer and not attact so much dirt....so why muck around with linseed oil ? I still don't get it :confused:
 
Carl Darnell:
None of the information was taken from "record by Lonnie Donnegan." Just advise I received on making "dot springs" for old Vibroplex semi-automatic telegraph "bugs" keys.
 
re: Terps spontaneously combusting. Real terpentine has a resinous component and is prone to spontaneously combust. Real terps is also surprizingly toxic and has very low flash point components. Artists are pretty mush warned away from it, but it is still required for desolving some resins and varnishes. It is also my understanding that other solvents like kero, gasoline, etc will spontaneously combust. Anything that is not water based gets soaked in water before I dispose it. In my wold warehouse when I had rags etc with paint and solvents on them, I would lay out on the concrete floor to dry before disposing. If you have ever been through a fire once you won't want to do it again! be carefull, lots of materials we take for granted are fires waiting to happen.
 
I have NO IDEA why good "boiled" linseed should be soft and gummy......

Any artist who has worked in oils knows that the basic boiled linseed does indeed "dry" to a pretty hard surface, not "gummy", although not "brittle hard".

Thin dries faster, but it does "dry" no matter what, to a surface that won't pick up dust any more than most anything..

If you want the thick gummy stuff, that would be "stand oil", and it is nice to work with, but as far as image longevity, there isn't any. It won't last a hundred years.... linseed can go for centuries, and has.

Bad linseed may stay gummy.... dunno. Bad linseed isn't worth having.

Rubbed oil wood finishes use drying oils, and are not particularly gummy dust magnets.


and "Cosmoline" as I have seen it and worked with it (mostly cleaned it off), is a thick grease-like material. I doubt that any thin spray-on stuff would protect as well, i.e. months of exposure.....

Plus, I believe cosmoline does "dry" to some extent... it seems to be harder after considerable exposure. It may HAVE some drying oil in it for all I know.

In any case, there are degrees of stupid. Mixing up a "woodsman's remedy" type of way oil with STP and this and that is silly when you can get far better stuff cheap.

Mixing up a rust protector for general use isn't silly, it is probably very effective for large area general protection.

Using the general use mixed-up "eye of newt" protective stuff to protect a valuable machine for ocean shipping is also silly, for the reasons you mention.

As tor turps.... I was under the impression that it is distilled material, relatively free of the resin, so not terribly prone to troubles.

At least I have used plenty of it, and not seenit happen.

As for gas, etc, they have no available crosslinking spots, and I don't think they can polymerize before they evaporate.

The whole deal with spontaneous combustion is an "exothermic polymerization".... where the reaction has three features...

1) it releases energy as heat.

2) it proceeds faster with higher temperature, so it can accelerate in a feedback process.

3) it is fast enough to begin with that it can lead to a heat build-up under reasonably attainable storage conditions.
 
and "Cosmoline" as I have seen it and worked with it (mostly cleaned it off), is a thick grease-like material. I doubt that any thin spray-on stuff would protect as well, i.e. months of exposure.....
Sheesh J...you've been around here for years now...don't you recall the study I talked about that Practical Sailor magazine did on these sprays ? They do last for months, and in way worse environments than you're likely to ever expose a machine tool (i.e. boats with salt water getting sprayed on them)

Re the "cosmoline" controvery...now that you mention it, I'm not really sure what the precise definition of "cosmoline" is really. All I know is LPS3 and CRC Marine smell and look (sort of amber clear when dry) like "classic" cosmoline of old...but whether they really are "cosmoline"...beats me.

Summary of Practical Sailor anti rust spray tests
 
LPS3 is also available in plastic bottles with hand pumps, at a per-ounce cost considerably less than the aerosol cans.

It has been tremendously effective at keeping my outoor steel bench/vise stand, and 6-inch vise, from rusting.

But it does dry to a tacky, almost waxy consistency that holds dust. Maybe the handpump version leaves a thicker coat than the aerosol? Does that negate the cost-savings? If the dust is sawdust, and the atmosphere is humid, the sawdust absorbs moisture and forms little rust spots. So either clean the dust off and reapply the LPS3. Or cover the thing and keep it dustfree (not much good if you want to actually use it).

I've always wondered what cosmoline was. Probably a lindsaybooks reprint somewhere that explains. Anybody have one?
 








 
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