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Diesel fuel and linseed oil?

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#3 ·
Hear of it?? Yes.

It's just proof that idiocy exists in every generation....

I can understand the Linseed Oil. Diesel is an oil with some waxes.

Neither is very good on wood. If mold gets started on Linseed Oil...good luck...

In THIS century?!? This isn't the 1920's anymore...

Faron
 
#15 ·
Neil Rustic Shed Builder said:
All paints and stains are more flammable then diesel
Click to expand...
Well, actually that's not true... Diesel fuel is combustible (it will ignite but relies on compressed heat as opposed to an open spark) but is not designated as "flammable". Xylene, Toluene & Acetone each have a lower flash point than diesel fuel - so from that perspective, it's actually safer than some of the more common paint solvents (mentioned above)...and that recipe has been around for decades. The problem is, diesel fuels are more oily than are most petroleum distillates, so you are introducing a foreign "resin" to the mix...primarily mineral oil which is non-drying, and has a very low viscosity. The mix is great for penetration and will not dry very quickly...and will take even longer to form a film - but it really doesn't pose much of a fire hazard other than the solvent fumes evaporate far slower than does the more common solvents used in conventional paints.
 
#16 ·
Ric Knows Paint said:
Well, actually that's not true... Diesel fuel is combustible (it will ignite but relies on compressed heat as opposed to an open spark) but is not designated as "flammable". Xylene, Toluene & Acetone each have a lower flash point than diesel fuel - so from that perspective, it's actually safer than some of the more common paint solvents (mentioned above)...and that recipe has been around for decades. The problem is, diesel fuels are more oily than are most petroleum distillates, so you are introducing a foreign "resin" to the mix...primarily mineral oil which is non-drying, and has a very low viscosity. The mix is great for penetration and will not dry very quickly...and will take even longer to form a film - but it really doesn't pose much of a fire hazard other than the solvent fumes evaporate far slower than does the more common solvents used in conventional paints.
Click to expand...
...and by the way, this post we're responding to is from 2011
 
#17 ·
I came to this paint forum from a search engine that directed me here. That being said I happened to see this and decided to sign up and answer this topic query. Yes I have heard, observed and even used a mixture of number 2 fuel oil and linseed oil on farm buildings learning from my grandparents years ago and being in my 70s you can imagine the practice is quite old. The last time I used the formulation was some 20 years ago on an old building I redid. The diesel oil and linseed oil mix I applied and then the next week coated it all with a cheap oil based red barn paint purchased at the local Farm Service dealer. Looks pretty decent to this day. My guess though might be that there are an assortment of EPA rules so common in life nowadays that would make it against the law to use this method again but I swear it has worked for generations and in addition to its looking good there I have never seen termites enter this type of treated wood either.
Despite what might seem as common sense I have never seen any fire hazard arising from the building and if there has been a fire in the past it was usually blamed on the storing of wet hay but that's another story...
 
#18 ·
edsl48 said:
I came to this paint forum from a search engine that directed me here. That being said I happened to see this and decided to sign up and answer this topic query. Yes I have heard, observed and even used a mixture of number 2 fuel oil and linseed oil on farm buildings learning from my grandparents years ago and being in my 70s you can imagine the practice is quite old. The last time I used the formulation was some 20 years ago on an old building I redid. The diesel oil and linseed oil mix I applied and then the next week coated it all with a cheap oil based red barn paint purchased at the local Farm Service dealer. Looks pretty decent to this day. My guess though might be that there are an assortment of EPA rules so common in life nowadays that would make it against the law to use this method again but I swear it has worked for generations and in addition to its looking good there I have never seen termites enter this type of treated wood either.
Despite what might seem as common sense I have never seen any fire hazard arising from the building and if there has been a fire in the past it was usually blamed on the storing of wet hay but that's another story...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I admire your experience and knowledge. Many will criticize because they don't understand.... it doesn't fit their paradigm of understanding.
 
#19 ·
edsl48 said:
I came to this paint forum from a search engine that directed me here. That being said I happened to see this and decided to sign up and answer this topic query. Yes I have heard, observed and even used a mixture of number 2 fuel oil and linseed oil on farm buildings learning from my grandparents years ago and being in my 70s you can imagine the practice is quite old. The last time I used the formulation was some 20 years ago on an old building I redid. The diesel oil and linseed oil mix I applied and then the next week coated it all with a cheap oil based red barn paint purchased at the local Farm Service dealer. Looks pretty decent to this day. My guess though might be that there are an assortment of EPA rules so common in life nowadays that would make it against the law to use this method again but I swear it has worked for generations and in addition to its looking good there I have never seen termites enter this type of treated wood either.
Despite what might seem as common sense I have never seen any fire hazard arising from the building and if there has been a fire in the past it was usually blamed on the storing of wet hay but that's another story...
Click to expand...
When I was a kid around 45 years ago my grandfather had me "paint" the horse fences with some kind of "brew" in order to keep the horses from chewing on the fence wood. Imagining what a mix of linseed oil and diesel would smell like, I'm thinking that may have been his "brew". However it had a little black color to it, did he also add some type of roofing tar?
 
#20 ·
GCTony said:
When I was a kid around 45 years ago my grandfather had me "paint" the horse fences with some kind of "brew" in order to keep the horses from chewing on the fence wood. Imagining what a mix of linseed oil and diesel would smell like, I'm thinking that may have been his "brew". However it had a little black color to it, did he also add some type of roofing tar?
Click to expand...
I can't say for horses because we, my ancestors that I know of and me, did not have the privilege of owning horses to the best of my knowledge. The "tar' however does ring a bell. When I was young it seemed there was always some type of wood, small tree trunk if you will, inserted in a pipe contraption that would hold the wood along with a concoction of assorted liquids that included tar as a basic element. My thoughts are the mix included old motor oil, coal oil (kerosene or #1 fuel oil) ) , #2 fuel oil and the aforementioned tar. There may have been other items that I am not aware of meaning probably any other waste solvent based liquids were added in. After a week or two of this treatment the wood was known as a post and was stacked up with others in a pile for when needed. It was not unusual to see a pile of posts for future use behind many a barn or shed and one might say it was a rather ordinary sight. Believe it or not there are still some posts from that old era that stand to this day and, based upon more recent surveys, are quite accurate in their placement.

Hedge, or Osage Orange, was a highly desirable wood for posts while Locust, if memory serves me right, was considered the gold standard for fence posts. An old saying went something to the effect of "never place posts during a full moon" and if I remember correctly the best time to plant posts was during the dark of the moon meaning after the full moon and before the new moon. All in all in other words tar had a lot of uses back in the day and I can still remember spreading in on roofing on a hot humid summer day...
 
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