Linseed oil

“ With reference to the question of boiled or unboiled oil, it should be remembered that both oils are glossy when applied in sufficient quantity, boiled linseed oil has more body, and is more brilliant than raw linseed oil, raw linseed oil is lighter in color, and is not so liable to blister as boiled linseed oil, boiled linseed oil dries quicker than raw linseed oil. ”

“ The black is softened with turpentine and removed by means of an old chisel.
A priming coat can never prove satisfactory unless it is composed of very fine materials. White lead, red lead, or white lead and ochre are among the best primers.
The best tests of linseed oil for the practical man are the senses of smell and taste. The analysis of linseed oil is a very difficult process, and every oil dealer should educate his senses by constant practice and recognise the pure oil immediately when he smells or tastes it. Adulteration in boiled oil is more difficult to detect than it is in raw oil. ”

“ On account of its rapid drying properties and general adaptability for all classes of paints and varnishes, linseed oil has never been supplanted by any other oil. Chemically it consists of the glycerides of linoleic, oleic, and isolinoleic acid, its constitution being responsible for its very high iodine value.
Field of Flax in bloom in North Dakota
Boiled linseed oil, a heavier and darker product, is made by heating the raw oil in open kettles to high temperatures, generally with the addition of metallic driers such as litharge, and black manganese. ”

“ A good quality of raw linseed oil should be used, as it works well and dries dead when not used in excess, and it is free from the gumminess found in boiled oil. Raw oil simmered over a gentle fire for two or three hours has its drying qualities improved, more especially if a little sugar of lead be added to it. ”

“ It is a well-known fact that linseed oil, when applied to a clean surface, such as a glass plate, will undergo oxidation and take up oxygen to the extent of about 16%, forming a hard, elastic, non-sticky product which has been called linoxyn. This material, unlike the oil from which it has been formed, is insoluble in most solvents. Other oils, such as cottonseed, hemp, rape, olive, etc., are more fully satisfied in nature and have not the power to absorb the amount of oxygen taken up by linseed oil. ”

“ Linseed oil in paints, when dried, forms a hard, tough, gluey coating which serves to bind firmly the particles of paint together, and to the wood, and to exclude water as no other oil does; hence if any other oil is mixed with the linseed oil, it is said to be adulterated. At the present time linseed oil is adulterated in some cases, and it is believed that this adulteration is the chief cause of the lack of durability in many of the ready-mixed paints. ”

“ By blowing air through linseed oil that has been heated to approximately 200 degrees Fahrenheit, either with or without drier, heavy bodied oils are obtained, which find special application in varnishes and technical paints. As the viscosity of these oils increase, the iodine values decrease, and a slight rise in [7] saponification value and specific gravity is observed. The following analyses of various types of linseed oil were recently made by the writer:
Soya Bean Oil. ”

“ In the language of another, "Raw linseed oil is the king of the paint realm. There are lots of usurpers in the field but they are short lived. The true homage of the brotherhood of the brush continues to be paid to the old stand-by. It is the gold of the paint shop currency."
In the basic stage of carriage and wagon painting, pure raw linseed oil is conceded to be the life of the pigment. Impure or adulterated linseed oil—the spurious, fraudulent article, if you please—has more to do with the premature decay of paint and varnish than one at first thought might concede. ”

“ A purified linseed oil is thus produced which is bright, clear, and slightly yellowish in colour, though somewhat paler than the ordinary oil. It is important that the strength of the oil should not exceed that degree of concentration which is sufficient for the purpose for which it is intended. The oil having been so treated, and the impurities separated by subsidence or otherwise, it is next submitted to the bleaching and oxidising treatment. ”

“ Linseed oil, as it is pressed from the seed, comes from the cells, carrying with it a certain small definite percentage of water, and it is quite certain that even the best linseed oil that goes into use is not theoretically dry. ”

“ Adulteration of linseed oil with mineral and other non-drying oils, has a tendency to make paint dry soft. Linseed oil, kept for a few days in an old sour tank or in an old rancid can in the paint shop, is liable to cause fermentation to take place, which may result in mildew in damp weather in shaded places.
When an oil can smells sour, or there is a deposit of foots at the bottom, it is unfit to keep oil in. ”

“ Rosin oil is a deleterious adulterant, but one which may be more readily detected than cotton-seed oil. Rosin is [332] added to boiled oil to hasten its drying; this also is an injurious substance. Of late years glycerine has become an article of greater value than formerly, and this may account for the manufacture of linoleic acid and its use as an adulterant of oleic acid and of linseed oil.
Lastly, it may be mentioned that certain samples of “pale boiled oil” have been found to contain what is practically a raw oil mixed with dryers. ”

“ It will be shown herewith that boiled oil, though in general use, is unfit for durable painting, that it is the cause of most of the troubles painters have to contend with, and that raw linseed oil seasoned by age is the only source to bind pigments for durable painting; but how to procure it is another trouble to overcome, as all our American raw linseed oil has been heated by the manufacturers, to qualify it for quick drying and an early market, thereby impairing its quality. ”

“ Linseed oil is not soluble in water, very slightly in alcohol, but can be dissolved in ether and essential oils.
If prepared by the cold process it is a light yellow colour, and if prepared by heat it is brown yellow.
In common oil, there is often a solution of oils of resin, and such oils must never be employed if good results are to be obtained.
The quality of oil depends completely on the nature of the seed from which it is extracted.
A good oil is very liquid and transparent, and is practically odourless. ”

“ Embossing or printing for enamels is done before the goods are quite dry. Considerable difference of opinion obtains as to the best oil to use in the above oiling. Linseed oil is widely preferred as being most likely to agree with varnishes made from linseed oil. Some manufacturers of japans do not dislike the use of mineral oil, but strongly object to cod oil, tallow or other stuffing greases as tending to cause the varnish to strip or peel. Other manufacturers, on the other hand, will not have leather with mineral oil in it, and indicate that nothing but cod oil should be used. ”

“ Though the oil gold-size can always be purchased of good quality, it may be well to describe the fat oil of which it is principally composed. Linseed oil, in any quantity, is exposed during the summer in the open air, but as much away from dust as possible, for about two months, during which time it must be often stirred, and it will become as thick as treacle. It is a good practice to pour into the pot a quantity of water, so that the oil may be lifted from the bottom of it, as all the impurities of the oil sink into the water, and do not again mix when it is stirred. ”

“ Give the article a good coat of linseed oil or a washing with petroleum before beginning work.
II.—Articles that are always exposed to the water, floors, doors, especially of oak, should, from time to time, be {755} saturated with oil or wax. A house door, plentifully decorated with wood carving, will not shrink or warp, even where the sun shines hottest on it, when it is frequently treated to saturation with wax and oil. Here a plain dosage with linseed oil is sufficient. Varnish, without the addition of turpentine, should never be used, or if used it should be followed by a coat of wax. ”

“ There is not much doubt that the best pigments may be replaced with others somewhat inferior without so much detriment to the quality of the paint as if linseed oil is replaced by some other oil. It is quite necessary that pure linseed oil be used in the manufacture of all paints, and although there are one or two substitutes on the market which may be employed in very cheap work, no attempt should be made to execute a really good job unless pure linseed oil is used. The purpose of the oil in giving a gloss is sometimes assisted by the addition of a small quantity of oak varnish. ”

“ Linseed oil is a type of the drying oils, those which when exposed in thin coats to the air absorb large quantities of oxygen and are thereby converted into tough, solid sheets having properties very similar to those of soft India rubber. The process goes on much faster with the aid of heat than at the ordinary temperature, and the rate at which the boiled oil will dry in the ink can be exactly regulated by heating it for a longer or shorter time. ”

“ The French oil is of two kinds, a white cold-drawn oil, and a coarser oil obtained by a second expression and from inferior seed, the total yield being 40 per cent. The finer oil is fit for alimentary purposes, and is largely used to adulterate olive-oil; it is also employed as a lamp-oil, and very extensively by artists for grinding light pigments, as, though possessing less strength and tenacity than linseed-oil, it keeps its colour better. The pure oil has a golden-yellow tint and agreeable flavour ”

“ It is superior in drying powers, tenacity, and body to any other fixed oil. The best oil comes from the Black Sea and the Baltic; that from the East Indian seed is inferior, as the seed is less carefully cleaned, and contains too much stearine. Raw linseed oil is clear and light in color, works smoothly, and is used for internal works, for delicate tints, and for grinding up colors. Boiled oil is much thicker, darker, and more apt to clog. It is used for outside work, as its greater body and rapidity in drying make it a quicker and more efficient protection. ”

“ Hempseed oil is a mean tasting, mean smelling, but good drying oil, and only because of its rapid color changes, wearing finally to a dull brown, is its employment in linseed oil restricted to narrow limits. ”

“ The oils most proper to be used are linseed, rapeseed, or almost any of the vegetable fixed oils. Oak wood, rendered entirely free from moisture, and then immersed in linseed oil, is said to be thus prevented from splitting: the time of immersion depending on the size, &c. Palm oil is preferable to whale oil, because impregnation with the latter, although in many instances eligible, causes [107] wood to become brittle. It is, however, probable that whale oil, when combined with other substances, such as litharge, coal pitch, or charcoal, may lose much of that effect. ”

“ Oxidized oil is more readily saponified than raw oil, and the greater the oxidation, the more readily does saponification take place. Lime soaps are not soluble in water, whereas soda and potash soaps are. Consequently a cement made with the latter, if exposed to the weather, will be acted upon by rain and moisture, owing to the soluble soap contained in it, while a cement made with lime will not be acted upon. It is suggested that the action of the bases on linseed oil is simply due to their neutralization of the free acid. The acidity of linseed oil increases as it becomes oxidized. ”

“ Linseed-oil.—The flax plant, so well known as yielding a textile fibre, affords a valuable oil-seed. The supplies of linseed for crushing are furnished chiefly by Russia and India. It is found that, as a general rule, the colder the climate in which the seed is grown, the greater are the drying properties of the oil, but the worse is its colour. In India, preference is given to white seed, as yielding 2 per cent. more oil, affording [300] it more freely, and giving a softer and sweeter cake, than the red seed ”

“ They are viscid and of a pale yellow color, lighter than water, and therefore float upon it, and are very combustible. Oils are used for a multiplicity of purposes: for burning in lamps, for making paints and varnishes, preventing the friction of machinery, in making soap, and numerous other processes. Oils are generally divided into fixed and volatile oils; as an example of the first, linseed oil may be selected; of the last, oil of lavender.
Some of the fixed oils are called drying oils, and it is this kind that are used for varnish making ”

“ One method of hardening is to smear the blank with common yellow soap, heat it to a cherry red, and drop endwise into linseed oil. Petroleum is preferred by some to linseed oil, but, to tell the truth, I can see no difference in the action of linseed, petroleum or olive oil. Be sure and have enough oil to thoroughly cool the blank, and a deep vessel, such as a large-mouthed vial, is preferable to a saucer. The blank will now be found too hard to work easily with the graver, and we must therefore draw the temper down to that of fine spring steel. ”

“ An oil, generally linseed or poppy oil, which is ground up with the white lead or zinc-white until it becomes a soft paste. This is mixed with variable preparations of linseed oil and spirit of turpentine.
(3) A substance called dryers, or siccative materials; it may be linseed oil in which litharge is dissolved, or it may be linseed oil containing a compound of manganese.
Paint owes to the dryers its property of drying more rapidly than it would do without it ”