On 12 Jun 2015 02:06:39 -0300, Mike Spencer
wrote:


Ed Huntress writes:

Our oldest family home, built in 1741 in Greenland, NH, was painted
with a mixture of linseed oil and white lead for well over 100 years.
'Makes good paint.

And several of my gunstocks are coated with hand-rubbed linseed, which
dries in a month or so.

And blacksmiths traditionally (and still) rub workpieces straight
from the fire (sooty, some scale) with linseed oil while just hot enough
to gently smoke a bit. The heat accelerates the polymerization and the
wiped-down piece is no longer sticky by the time it's cool enough to
handle. Makes a nice, somewhat weather resistant black finish.

For wood, a point to note is that "boiled" linseed may contain cobalt
dryer. Probably not very much but cobalt is toxic so you may want to
avoid it on salad bowls and food prep surfaces.

Right. There are several metal "salts" that have been used in "boiled"
linseed, generally not good things for your health. In the old days it
was boiled with litharge -- red lead oxide. They're catalysts that
promote polymerization of the oil.


Surely anyone suggesting linseed as a lubricant is doing it toungue in
cheek? Surely? :-o

One hopes. One never quite depends on it. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress