Tinting Linseed Oil
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Oil based colorants, or just oil paint, are easy to add to linseed oil for color. October 15, 2009
Question
Has anyone successfully experimented with darkening linseed oil?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor R:
You can darken linseed oil to your heart's content, just add oil based tinting colors or oil based aniline dry colors. What color are you after?
From the original questioner:
Thanks. I am going for dark honey/light molasses on pine.
From contributor J:
I am currently working on a mahogany bar and am using Transtint dyes mixed with linseed oil. 100 ml linseed oil, 5 ml reddish brown, 5 ml brown mahogany. Worked this mixture in over amber Transtint mixed with water. Sealed 2 coats of sealcoat and finished with lacquer. It's a great finish and the oil makes it shimmer.
From contributor R:
If you can make it to an art store you can pick up a couple of tubes of oil colors. These can be mixed right into your linseed oil and once you stir it up real good, you have yourself a stain. I would start off with the small tubes until I got the color I was looking for and then if you have to mix up a bunch of the color, you can get the larger tubes. Keep track of what and how much you mix so when it comes time to mix up the color in quantity you have a guideline to follow.
From the original questioner:
Thanks for the help - it was useful info.
From Paul Snyder, forum technical advisor:
There's a stain made by Zar/UGL called Honey Maple. Looks good on light colored woods like maple and pine. It contains linseed oil and pigments that give it a nice amber color. Many oil-base stains contain linseed oil, pigments, and sometimes oil-base dye. You can make your own stain, or often save time and money by buying them pre-made.
