To paint or not to paint?

[Sapphal]

Hi all. I’ve just had to buy a new ash pole - snapped the old one due to rot. I’ve had conflicting opinions as to whether it should painted, varnished or just regularly oiled.  At the moment the pole is dry. 

 

Can the the experts on here give me advice, preferably from experience. 

 

TIA

[Chewbacka]

22 minutes ago, Sapphal said:

Hi all. I’ve just had to buy a new ash pole - snapped the old one due to rot. I’ve had conflicting opinions as to whether it should painted, varnished or just regularly oiled.  At the moment the pole is dry. 

 

Can the the experts on here give me advice, preferably from experience. 

 

TIA

I wrote the boat name along the pole and then oiled it.  Not saying you should.

[WotEver]

Whether you paint it, oil it or varnish it it must be done regularly (at least yearly) and immediately following any damage. Oiling is the easiest to deal with. Le Tonkenois if you prefer a shiny finish. 

[Kudzucraft]

From a wood boat builders perspective all three will protect it just fine. All three need to have the finish maintained to keep the protection of the finish.

 

My personal preference is oil. I am a kayaker and I oil my wood paddle(s). I like the feel and it is the easiest to maintain. As long as you do it regular you just need to apply another coat.  But it needs it done regularly and more often than the others. But it is the easiest to do.

 

Sun eats up varnish so it not the longest lasting finish. Needs to be sanding to be recoated.  Paint is probably the most long lasting but again needs to be maintained.  Both if let go need a fair amount of sanding to get ready to refinish.

[Sapphal]

Thanks for the replies. My thoughts are to go for regular oiling. It will be easier to maintain and, as I see it, if the oil penetrates by a mm or more then it will suffer minor knocks better than paint which would likely chip.  When water gets under paint it tends to bubble the paint. 

[WotEver]

15 minutes ago, Sapphal said:

if the oil penetrates by a mm or more...

... then I’d be surprised. Oil only tends to penetrate up to a mm in my experience. Even pressure treated timber only gets a penetration of a very few mm. 

[Kudzucraft]

Exactly why I like oil finish for handles, paddles and poles.

 

[Sapphal]

Even justl less than a mm is a lot better than the few microns of paint, unless you give it 25 coats of paint. 

[WotEver]

40 minutes ago, Sapphal said:

Even justl less than a mm is a lot better than the few microns of paint, unless you give it 25 coats of paint. 

Although the protection isn’t as good as paint... swings & roundabouts. As I said earlier, oil is the easiest to maintain: just wipe over with a bit of white spirit and give it another coat on a regular basis. 

[dor]

I painted mine using the same paint as the boat about ten years ago. It still looks as good now as when I painted it.

Probably because it lies along the corridor inside the boat.  Despite being on a relatively shallow canal I always find it easier to stop and reverse off if getting stemmed up.

[Sea Dog]

13 hours ago, dor said:

Probably because it lies along the corridor inside the boat.

Yup, as does mine "just in case". Never had a case though, which is why the  rack on the roof went in favour of solar panels. I'm sure there is or was an occasional need, but the only time I seem to see long shafts in action it looks like an accident about to happen on a badly helmed boat.

 

Mine's varnished and needs redoing, my boat hook (equally well used!) is oiled and doesn't.

[cuthound]

On 28/08/2019 at 16:11, WotEver said:

Although the protection isn’t as good as paint... swings & roundabouts. As I said earlier, oil is the easiest to maintain: just wipe over with a bit of white spirit and give it another coat on a regular basis. 

 

I am about to repaint my boat's pole and hook.

 

Never thought about oiling, what oil would you recommend?

[Alan de Enfield]

Raw linseed oil is used on Firearms, and has been for 100's of years.

Later Boiled Linseed oil was used where the stocks are held in a vat of hot oil, they absorb it better 'hot'.

 

Treatment for maintaining linseed oil was :

 

Wet a rag with raw linseed oil.

Oil it once a day for a week.

Once a week for a month.

Once a month for a year,

Once a year.

 

Do not leave linseed oil soaked rags lying about as they will self-combust.

 

These stocks have survived tropical storms, living in the trenches of WW1 & WW2, and from the Arctic to the Antarctic with every climate in between.

 

Stocks banged about in the trenches will have had a hard life when compared with a pole on a boat roof.

 

The oil will penetrate deep into the wood (many mm's) and will provide a waterproof and rot-resistant protection.

You can with repeated application get 100% penetration.

 

 

 

British Army instructions :

 

Approval is hereby given for the treatment with raw linseed oil, of the furniture of rifles in use in all stations at home or abroad, irrespective of climate.

The oil will be applied by the soldier once a month to the outside of the fore-end, butt and handguards of the rifle in the following manner :-

1)      Remove all dust and dirt by wiping well with a dry rag

2)      Apply a small quantity of raw linseed oil to the woodwork and rub it well into the wood, care being taken to keep the oil away from the metal parts.

3)      Allow the rifle to stand for approximately three hours and then wipe off all surplus oil with a clean dry rag.

Raw linseed oil will be demanded by the units at the scale of ten pints annually  for every 100 rifles. A.C.I. 80 of 1940 is hereby cancelled

 

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[cuthound]

Thanks Alan, most helpful.

[peterboat]

36 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Raw linseed oil is used on Firearms, and has been for 100's of years.

Later Boiled Linseed oil was used where the stocks are held in a vat of hot oil, they absorb it better 'hot'.

 

Treatment for maintaining linseed oil was :

 

Wet a rag with raw linseed oil.

Oil it once a day for a week.

Once a week for a month.

Once a month for a year,

Once a year.

 

Do not leave linseed oil soaked rags lying about as they will self-combust.

 

These stocks have survived tropical storms, living in the trenches of WW1 & WW2, and from the Arctic to the Antarctic with every climate in between.

 

Stocks banged about in the trenches will have had a hard life when compared with a pole on a boat roof.

 

The oil will penetrate deep into the wood (many mm's) and will provide a waterproof and rot-resistant protection.

You can with repeated application get 100% penetration.

 

 

 

British Army instructions :

 

Approval is hereby given for the treatment with raw linseed oil, of the furniture of rifles in use in all stations at home or abroad, irrespective of climate.

The oil will be applied by the soldier once a month to the outside of the fore-end, butt and handguards of the rifle in the following manner :-

1)      Remove all dust and dirt by wiping well with a dry rag

2)      Apply a small quantity of raw linseed oil to the woodwork and rub it well into the wood, care being taken to keep the oil away from the metal parts.

3)      Allow the rifle to stand for approximately three hours and then wipe off all surplus oil with a clean dry rag.

Raw linseed oil will be demanded by the units at the scale of ten pints annually  for every 100 rifles. A.C.I. 80 of 1940 is hereby cancelled

 

 

When I first joined we had wooden stocked SLRs which gradually went over to plastic, I much preferred the wood to be honest

[WotEver]

27 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Thanks Alan, most helpful.

Don’t use raw linseed oil, it takes forever to dry. Boiled linseed oil (it’s not actually boiled these days, it just has some dryers added) is far more practical. 

[Chewbacka]

2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Don’t use raw linseed oil, it takes forever to dry. Boiled linseed oil (it’s not actually boiled these days, it just has some dryers added) is far more practical. 

All depends on how much you dislike sticky fingers after using your pole.......

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

All depends on how much you dislike sticky fingers after using your pole.......

Once it has soaked in / surplus wiped off it is not 'sticky'.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Once it has soaked in / surplus wiped off it is not 'sticky'.

It certainly is, until it dries. And pure linseed oil can take days to dry. 

A bit of info here about drying times: 

https://www.sunnysidecorp.com/product.php?p=cf&b=s&n=87232

[Alan de Enfield]

39 minutes ago, WotEver said:

It certainly is, until it dries. And pure linseed oil can take days to dry. 

A bit of info here about drying times: 

https://www.sunnysidecorp.com/product.php?p=cf&b=s&n=87232

Yes - it can take ages to dry but BLO is around 3 hours.

 

The American website you linked to is for a very different product to UK BLO.

 

The American commercial BLO is a hazardous substance and the advice is only to use it when wearing gloves and PPE.

In the UK BLO is applied 'by hand'.

 

In the US the only 'pure' BLO is that used by Artists.

 

There is a lot of warnings about the differences on international gun collecting forums.

From the link :

Personal Protective Equipment 

Eye/face Protection. If exposed to airborne mist, or if splashing is possible, appropriate safety glasses with side-shields or safety goggles are recommended.
 
Skin and Body Protection Oil resistant gloves are recommended. Appropriate body protection should be selected based on activity and possible exposure. Also take into consideration the specific local conditions under which the product is used.
 
Respiratory Protection In case of mist, spray or aerosol exposure wear suitable personal respiratory protection.
 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[Kudzucraft]

I use real tung oil on my paddles. No stickiness and ready to use in a day or less.

[WotEver]

Just now, Kudzucraft said:

I use real tung oil on my paddles. No stickiness and ready to use in a day or less.

I was just about to suggest the same. Or indeed any of the other purpose-designed exterior use oils. 

 

Linseed oil is a pretty poor choice for exterior wood. 

 

Good advice here from Axminster. 

https://knowledge.axminster.co.uk/exterior-finishes-choose/

24 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The American website you linked to is for a very different product to UK BLO.

Irrelevant really, I just used it to demonstrate the extended drying time for linseed oil.