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.

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....

"Woody" wrote in message
...
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.



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.

On 19 Aug 2005 17:21:55 -0700, the opaque "bridger"
clearly wrote:

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....

Not even if he rubs two cans together reeeeeal quicklike?


-----------------------------------------
Jack Kevorkian for Congressional physician!
http://www.diversify.com Wondrous Website Design
=================================================

You should go to http://www.thomasmoser.com 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" wrote in message
...
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.

"mkl" wrote in message
...
You should go to http://www.thomasmoser.com 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.

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

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:45:09 GMT, "Woody" wrote:

Does hot oil make a difference?

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.