[Cob] Finish Coat Help Needed

[Stephen Karrington]

> On Wed, 12 Mar 2008, Stephen Karrington wrote:

>> Hello,
>>
>> I have a bar area that has a finish coat that is too
>> oily/greasy/waxy. Basically, it is never going to dry :( Its been like
>> that for months and no change at all in getting dry over time.
> [snip]
>> What can I do about this?
> [snip]

> Without knowing exactly what went in to this finish, any recommendation
> that would work would be a lucky guess.  What exactly is the mixture of
> this finish coat?

I'm guessing its clay powder and color. I don't think anything else is
in it. The only other thing that might be in there would be tapioca
flour. And oil/wax combo was put on top.

>> The problem with this part is the color comes right off when
>> touched! If you put your hands on the surface and pull them off your hands
>> become blue :) hehe. Any suggestions on what to do about this? Its
>> smooth, dry and very dusty. I don't think anything put on top of it
>> will stick to it. That's what I'm worried about.

> I think this can be readily dealt with using repeated coats of boiled 
> linseed oil, or one of the alternative drying oils such as tung oil.

I have 1 gallon containers of linseed oil. I don't think it has any
chemicals in it for drying. I already put one coat of this oil on the
surface and it didn't do anything. Its as dry and dusty as it was before!

> Since I am not sure of the exact nature of the mixture this surface is
> made out of, I would recommend trying the linseed/tung/etc oil in repeated
> coats (a couple days apart, possibly longer if the weather is cool) on a
> small unobtrusive area to make sure it does what you want before doing it
> to the whole area.  When the oil dries it will bind the surface materials
> together resulting in a fairly tough and very slightly flexible surface.

It's getting hot now. Getting to be summer. I'll try and see if I can
find Tung oil. As far as the surface coloring is now, its not that good either.
So some darkening wouldn't matter.

Thanks.

S