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I Forge Iron

What to use to coat a vise


99ls1ss

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I've cleaned up one old post vise and now I'm working on another one.  What do you guys put on your vises to keep them from rusting right away?  I've seen people use boiled linseed oil but I've read that it can get gummy after a while.  

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Boiled linseed oil is basically an oil based paint minus the colouring agents. It dries hard. Plain Linseed oil will get gummy and take a long time to polymerize and harden and so be gummy. Paint is designed to protect.

Inside: waxing may be enough---depends on the shop and the climate!

Me I live in a dry climate and haven't used anything the last 15 years.  The patina already there seems to guard from fresh rusting.

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Boiled linseed oil is a heavily modified linseed oil.

It is comprised of linseed oil and stand oil plus a metallic drying agent. (such as lead oxide + 'litharge',  or a cobalt salt, etc., etc.). *

It does dry.

Stand oil, a component of boiled linseed oil. Stand oilis linseed oil which is heated to almost 572 degrees Fahrenheit,  (300 C.), for several days in the absence of air.

The resultant stand oil/ boiled linseed oil,  is very thick and forms an elastic coating. That oil is heavily cross-linked and polymerizes rapidly.

I suspect that the non-drying oil,  you read about,  was essentially plain linseed oil,  not boiled linseed oil.

The oils, mentioned above, do not dry but are chemically changed, and hardened.

SLAG.

* boiled linseed oil is NOT edible.

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Definitely depends from location and weather. A vice or anvil left outside will need all the help it can and I would paint it all around but the face and then cover with something that keeps the rain off. 

Inside, I don't have the need for much. All I do is wrap the anvils and the vice with a canvas when I finished using them. In a high humidity area may be boiled linseed oil or beeswax. Not something I had to think much about. Probably more an issue for those who live on coastal areas. The sea air is unforgiving.  

How is it in snow regions? 

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