Has anyone finished with Linseed oil?
I was interested in trying this as I have used it on non musical projects. Just was wondering if there are any strong opinions either way.
I'm not a fan of linseed oil mostly because of the smell. If you want to go with it I'd recommend the boiled variety. Better choice would be pure Tung Oil or Danish Oil.
We've used linseed oil, both raw and boiled, but didn't really like the results either way. Tru-oil, on the other hand, is made of linseed oil with just the right additives to give you a perfect finish, IMHO.
I once looked for ukes finished wih TruOil, but just found these guitar pictures....I suppose they will do. I know some of our UU'ers have used this finish on ukes. I have used it on gunstocks and have gotten gorgeous results rather easily (and I'm not really a woodworker guy) I plan on using it for my kit uke, but I'm such a procrastinator, not sure when I'll get'r
done. There's another post here on using Armorall to make TruOil dry fast so you can put on several coats on a day.
Tru-oil is polymerized, so it cures faster and harder. Boiled linseed oil is not actually boiled, but has driers added that accelerate the curing. I don't like it for a finish on a uke. It doesn't really harden, it smells and it can oxidize. Most oils sold as tung oil are really wiping varnishes. Tru-oil is probably your best bet.