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I visited the old courthouse in St. Louis and realized the patina on the courtroom benches wasn't just age, but a specific finish.
The caretaker said they used a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine, applied once a year for over a century, which explains that deep, warm glow nothing modern can replicate.
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ray_williams1mo ago
That's a cool story, but I'm pretty sure they didn't boil the linseed oil themselves. You buy it pre-boiled, it's got driers added. Using raw linseed oil would take forever to dry, like weeks. The 50/50 mix with turpentine is spot on though, that's the classic recipe.
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wyatt1351mo agoTop Commenter
So what's actually in the driers?
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keith_bennett1mo ago
Ever get that feeling you're arguing with a guy who read one book and now knows everything?
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