A couple things stood out to me. Boiled linseed oil takes a couple days to fully "dry", which may change the look. Mineral oil will never "dry", it will remain fluid within the wood indefinitely, and the wood will pull the oil deeper into the wood over time which I would guess would fade the effect. Lastly, any iron residue that makes it into the wood from the steel wool will cause the tannins in the wood to darken and grey, so you could get streaks or stains, especially if your steel wool has any rust on it. In my opinion I would not use steel wool over raw wood.
I’ve heard it said that the wire wool lightly abrades the surface and improves both penetration and sheen and that’s why it’s used by a lot of furniture makers. I’m not a super-fan of it because I often seem to get strands of it left on the surface. I have used the green Scotchbrite pads to apply wax and it works OK. For straight oil finishes the white non-abrasive pads are absolutely brilliant- they are non absorbent so you use much less oil to get the coverage.
I watched this video several months back and just came across it again and re watched it. Lol. I too have wondered this same thing, and I’ve used both. I will tell you though, from my experience, the best thing I’ve ever used, especially when it comes to burl wood is Howard’s orange oil and bees wax polish. This is only my opinion here, but it made some silver maple burl look like a million bucks. It’s cheap too at $8 a big bottle.
Next up, try beeswax and pine tar. It's a darker finish, but the pine tar smells great and has natural anti-microbial action to it. Fantastic for tool handles and such things, but not so good for food-grade stuff unless you want it smelling like pine 😁
@@blackcoalwoodworking Pine Tar is often called Stockholm Tar in the old books, and was a necessity for life aboard the Tall Ships as it protected the wood and ropes from rotting in the salt air. Even today, it's used to keep wooden boats looking good, often mixed with turpentine, shellac flakes, and linseed oil to make a durable finish. Mikko Snellman's channel has a video of how to make your own pine tar from the trees, but it's easy enough to buy a pint anywhere that services the wood boat community or livestock/farm supply places.
Do you use a barn owl or a screech owl to poke a hole in our mineral oil? Just teasing. I did some of my bee supers with the beeswax mineral oil last year and they still look like new wood down here in moisture laden Louisiana.
It's neither of the finishes that is coloring the wood yellow. Although linseed oil might yellow over time, that's not the effect you're seeing. What you are seeing is the effect of the oil "wetting" the wood, changing the way it reflects light, giving it a yellow tint. All woods will darken over time, finished or not.
@@blackcoalwoodworking linseed oil was the oil base of the oil paints used in European paintings for centuries. Properly refined, it's not supposed to yellow, bright colored paintings in museums attest to that. look up Steve Voigt's blog on linseed oil refining for wood finishes. Hardware store BLO is junk, making your own refined linseed oil is an interesting pursuit, I'm trying it. I've not used long enough to make claims, but it's an interesting subject if one wants to make his own finishes.
Before WWII the Finns used a similar recipe for gunstock finish: 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 linseed oil, 1/3 turpentine. I have used it o a number of tool handles and walking sticks.
Beeswax is yellow and will add that color to almost any wood. Mineral oil alone will add a deep wet look without the yellowing. Both of your finishes look very nice.
Late to the party...have you tried BLO and mineral spirits and wax? I've seen that recipe around but never compared to anything. I'd like to know what each ingredient brings to the equation and are these finishes only valid for indoor pieces? I don't believe they provide any weather protection.
I've tried that. I've found that mineral spirits can help dry the finish faster, but it does smell more. These types of finishes have very limited outdoor protection, you are correct.
The equation: BLO - inside protection of the wood Wax - outside (film) protection and water repellent Mineral spirits - helps thinning the BLO for deeper penetration and thinning the wax for easier application.
To me, BLO is one of the most disgusting smells in the workshop so I go to any length to avoid using it. I’ve tried Rape Seed oil, Olive oil and kitchen vegetable oil as alternatives and they all seem to work OK. I’ve used mineral oil for chopping boards but never mixed with wax to having seen your video I’m going to try it out because on screen I could see no differences. Thanks for the video 👍🏻
Mineral oil is not a "drying oil", linseed oil is. Essentially, the mineral oil absorbed into the wood fiber, and down the road, will loose some of its luster, like a tung oil, it fades. Linseed oil can never do that. Linseed oil does however, yellow more with time.
Hi! Boiled linseed oil has a distinct "oil" smell. If you attempt to use it inside a drawer, you'll find the smell stays for a long time because it's not allowed to cure and off gas properly. Once boiled linseed oil has cured there is little to no smell. The mineral oil was the basic stuff from the local drug store, not baby oil. Sometimes there's a price difference going to the baby mineral oil vs a generic mineral oil. For woodworking, they are the same, you may just end up paying more for one.
Thanks! The reason I don't use olive oil is because I think it will go rancid at some point. If you are using a wood bowl regularly then I think olive oil is ok because you would wash the bowl and the old oil off, then add new oil back on
I had a old candel and some deck oil . So I tried it 50/50 I used it on outdoor wood furniture it worked awesome . No idea how long it last colouring so on . But hay it was free and . I just purchased some soy wax and I am going to mix it with deck oil and try it . It is so cheap . So if it works good Also anyone know what would happen if I mixed soy wax with old vegetable oil. ? I am going to try it so please if you have tried it or are someone of knowledge please reply .
@@blackcoalwoodworking I tried mixing the same candel with vegetable oil (Oil was used 4 times after firing chicken) came out great Smooth I am going to try it on wood after rain stops I love funding uses for waste products
This really is a poor test. Mineral will not dry or cure it will keep the wax soft. BLO will cure but it takes some time. I would of like to see the difference after a couple of weeks or more. Also after some handling of the boxes to see wear. And I believe both wax finishes should of been buffed.
Poplar "hard" wood? Are there some species of Poplar that are actually hard? In Ontario they are all quick growing, wide-ringed trees that are about as hard as pine.
I was in shock when I heard that Poplar is considered a "hardwood". Unfortunately I don't know of a harder Poplar. It's a beautiful species of wood though!
Mineral oil is considered for safe even when wet - probably because it never really dries. It's very popular as a non toxic finish for cutting boards and even cribs where a child may put anything they can in their mouth. All finished are safe when fully cured. Boiled linseed oil is more durable than mineral oil. Something like walnut oil may also be good as it is also food safe. Check for allergies before using walnut oil
Could you compare the durability of these two finishes as well? I remember reading somewhere that vegetable oil hardens/cures whereas mineral oil doesn't, which results in less durability and less protection again water, not sure if it's true.
