I have been end-grain turning dry beetle-kill ponderosa pine lately,
and soaking the 1/4" thick bowls in a solution of linseed oil, mineral
spirits, and urethane. Several of the bowls have knots in them. Will
the knots ultimately dry and crack, or will several soakings in the oil
solution eliminate the cracking?

Any thoughts would be welcome!

Bob Threlkeld

Hi Bob

If you get the knots filled up with the urethane mix, I would give it a
good chance of the knots not spitting later on, I have used and got
good results with CA glue, if I was able to get the glue in before the
knots had split, then very seldom did they split afterwards.
Are you turning the bowls real thin ???, I think that you can get some
very nice translucent bowls that way when soaked in the oil, anyway
good luck with your project.

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum4.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Thanks foir the optimism...I do turn them thin enough for them to be
translucent. They are really pretty after a half dozen soakings,
drying, sanding.

"Bob Threlkeld" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks foir the optimism...I do turn them thin enough for them to be
translucent. They are really pretty after a half dozen soakings,
drying, sanding.
==================

I haven't tried pine, but Western red cedar will become translucent with
several applications of BLO, but it really moves a lot if it from kiln dried
stock.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.

Thanks, Ken. What is BLO?

"Bob Threlkeld" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks, Ken. What is BLO?


Not Ken, but Boiled Linseed Oil. Curing oils like linseed, soy or tung are
used in all your oil finishes. More or less resin is added to it and the
solvent toughen the surface finish.

Problem with conifer knots is that they are a source of resin, and though
they might seem to be sealed, they will soften or blister the finish off as
they warm up or just exude resin out of pure contrariness. That's why a lot
of folks seal their pine with shellac, which uses a polar solvent which
won't dissolve the resin. Might want to make the first soak a bit thinner
to carry away those resins.

I have recently tried something new, I noticed that after several
soaking/drying sequences, if I put the vessel in a sunny place, it
"sweat" some oil of the surface. While it was still wet, I rubbed the
finish back in. Then, as an experiment, I tried microwaving the vessel
to heat it, and lots more finish bubbled out. Each time I did that, I
soaked up the excess with cloth and rubbed it into the surface again.
That not only stopped the bleeding, it caused the vessel to have a very
rich finish.

Not sure why...

"Bob Threlkeld" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have recently tried something new, I noticed that after several
soaking/drying sequences, if I put the vessel in a sunny place, it
"sweat" some oil of the surface. While it was still wet, I rubbed the
finish back in. Then, as an experiment, I tried microwaving the vessel
to heat it, and lots more finish bubbled out. Each time I did that, I
soaked up the excess with cloth and rubbed it into the surface again.
That not only stopped the bleeding, it caused the vessel to have a very
rich finish.

Not sure why...


Couple of suggestions.

1) You're getting the water out from underneath the oil. See my answer
about oiling aspen, where the finish won't cure until it's also got dry
underneath. Gooey scatters more light than glossy.

2) You're getting a bit of surface hardening of the wood itself because of
the microwave. This will close the pores a bit, giving you an effect
similar to burnishing with ultra high number sandpaper.