Hardwood floor finish question.
In the past I have used a “home-made” finish on hardwood furniture products. This combination was suggested by a fellow woodworker.
The mixture is 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 polyurethane finish, and 1/3 turpentine. It sounded odd before I tried it. I applied it very heavily, allowed it to penetrate for 20 minutes, and then wiped it dry, repeating for 2 or 3 applications.
This mixture has proven to stand up to heavy use, with good penetration and hard surface.
If anyone follows me this far, do you think this would work for oak floors? It seems like the possible compromise between poly and oil based floor finish. I hate to put down fresh poly when it gets chipped and scratched from heavy use, leaving dry wood exposed.
Thanks.
Replies
What's the drying time on this combination?
How many coats would you expect to apply?
Turtleneck
Its not a smile- its a cramp
It's dry overnight, dry to the touch and dry enough to recoat.
I've used a combo (1/2 boiled linseed, 1/2 turpentine) without the poly on red oak wainscotting and butternut ceiling boards with excellent results. Of course they don't have to stand up to wear like a floor, but I'm certainly as interested as you in anyone's experience with the 1/3 - 1/3 -1/3 combo on oak floor.
All of the recipies sound like gun stock finishes. The linseed oil penetrates, the turp gives a quick evaporating carrier. The desired end result is similar: Tough, generally waterproof, and fills the wood pores in to keep moisture & crud out. Poly-E is probably better than melted paraffin wax (and less work).
Probably not a common finish due to the smell of the finish product while it is drying.
Thanks for the information on gun stock finishes.
What I've seen from five years of wear and tear is that the surfaces remains hard, the grain is a little more filled in than with a straight oil finish, and scratches and dents don't chip away the surface of the finish.
I would have thought this would be a more commonly used finish. The finishing odor is certainly powerful. I wouldn't try applying it without a decent carbon filtered respirator. And it does linger for several days as you described.
But it's easy to mix, easy to apply without any special equipment aside from clean rags, and it's so durable. One day I found that my wife had used Comet cleanser to scrub off our child's crayon drawings from the maple coffee table - and it still looks good. Surface is roughed up a little, but absolutely no discoloration. "As good as new."
Thanks again.
It's a tough as nails finish, with out doubt. I'm guessing that 5 gallon buckets of water-soluable floor finish are cheaper than equivalent quantities of linseed oil & turps. The "sheen" will be harder for a commercial installer to control, too, I imagine (or the labor hours for waxing the finish are too great).
The "recipe" you gave reminded me of a similar one in The Book of the Springfield (if memory serves correctly). And it stirred up (no pun intended) memories of boiled linseed and melted paraffin and turps.