Boiled Linseed Oil

[Black_Fly]

I’m have a nearly full can of BLO. No hemp oil, no Alaskan grey goose oil. Why isn’t BLO good for a wood paddle? I do have coconut oil. Would that work? It gets thick when cooled, so it might hang in the fibers?

 

[lowangle al]

I've been using it on my woodwork. I heard it turns the grain on ash black, and it does but it does protect the wood. I recently got some Badger oil but don't have enough experience with it to give an opinion.

 

[Thestripper]

I’m have a nearly full can of BLO. No hemp oil, no Alaskan grey goose oil. Why isn’t BLO good for a wood paddle? I do have coconut oil. Would that work? It gets thick when cooled, so it might hang in the fibers?

Boiled Linseed Oil can be great. It's just that it is very time consuming and tedious to finish with it. Also, some types of woods seem to work a lot better with it than others. I have used it quite a bit for walnut gun stocks and other carpentry projects. Never tried it with ash but I've heard that BLO and ash is not a good combo. BLO also yellows over time. On a dark wood this doesn't matter as much but on ash it could look pretty gunky.

Good quality walnut and BLO (like on gunstocks) is a great combo. It will still take about a year before it's considered finished and even after that it's a finish that you will need to tend to on a regular basis. Tung oil could possibly be a better alternative for ash.

My go-to paddle is a Grey Owl Sugar Island. On long days I got burns in my hands from the gloss finish so I sanded off the varnish on the whole shaft and handle and gave it many coats of BLO over the winter. It's now a thousand times nicer to use. It always feel warm and smooth in the hands and does not cause burn.

The first coats can be rubbed in to the wood with liberal amounts of BLO and some 400 grit sandpaper. Using the sandpaper will create a sludge that will help seal the grain and it will shorten drying time (which is still very long). It's an old saying that you should do this every day for a week, then once a week for a month, Then once a month for a year and after that whenever necessary. After the first 5 or so applications you don't need to use sandpaper anymore, just use a tiny amount of oil, as little as possible and rub it out with your hand. Wipe away all excess with a rag (and dispose of it in a safe manner. It can spontaneously combust in rags!).

I don't think coconut oil ever dries (or "polymerize" as it's called) so that is probably best left for eating.

 

[sailsman63]

Who says that BLO isn't good for paddles? It's my preferred finish for the shaft and grip areas.

Some bits of context:

• BLO is a drying oil, it reacts with oxygen to harden. (Basically a slow, self-fueled baking process)
• Coconut oil is not a drying oil. It will just stay goopy, melt on hot days, and probably go rancid when environmental micro-life moves in and decides to eat it.
• Commercial BLO has metallic elements added to speed the drying process, commonly iron. This is probably why it stains ash black: the iron reacts with the tanins in Ash or Oak wood to form Iron Oxide in the finish. YMMV on the intensity of the effect.
• There is an argument to be made that open-pored woods like ash and some oaks are not well protected by a drying oil: the oil doesn't get a chance to soak all the way into the vessels in the early wood, and doesn't form a film to block water intrusion into those same vessels.

I actually haven't found BLO to be all that tedious. You do need to get a coat on, let it cure, and then fine-sand and apply another coat before a new object is ready for use. The finish will require some semi-regular maintenance for a while, maybe a couple of times a season depending on use. Process is:

1. Scuff-sand the piece with very fine paper (320-400 grit) and apply oil. Takes less than 10 minutes.
2. Alllow to rest 10 minutes while putting away your canoe gear.
3. Wipe the remaining excess off the surface, and hang the paddle somewhere to cure. It can stay there until the next time you take the canoe out.

As the finish builds, this will need to be done less frequently.