Odorless oil for rag-can?
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Tagged: Rag-can
- This topic has 9 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
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13 February 2018 at 8:52 am #470669
Hi,
I’m just starting woodworking and I’ll be working in my apartment and storing tools probably in the bedroom. So, can you suggest some odorless oil to use in the rag-can so that the powers-that-be (aka wife) won’t stop this tinkering with wood before I even get started 🙂
13 February 2018 at 9:15 am #470679Mineral oil ( drug store baby oil) has no odor to me.
Just make sure you get the unscented.
https://www.johnsonsbaby.com/oil/johnsons-baby-oil
Camelia oil. It’s nice and thin and applies easily. To me, it is either odorless or has a very faint floral aroma. I also know from experience that camelia has never interacted with any of my finishes. Note that, aside from the finish, many oils will react with the wood and darken it, causing blotching. I’ve never seen that with camelia oil, at least for the amounts I put on my tools.
If you can’t find unscented baby oil, USP mineral oil (sold as a laxative in drugstores, at least in the USA) works great for most purposes. It’s cheap too, although it tends to be a bit more expensive than baby oil, probably because it has to be pure enough for internal use.
Dave
13 February 2018 at 3:51 pm #470856Thanks Dave, I actually got some unscented babyoil at home, so I’ll either try that or get me some camelia oil. It doesn’t need to be totally odorless, but it can’t have that car workshop only scent, like eg.wd40 has.
Jukka
13 February 2018 at 5:44 pm #470919Paul’s take on Camelia oil:
I tried camellia oil for a while but felt that it evaporated to quickly. Perhaps it was a weak blend of some kind. 3 in1 has worked for me for 50 years so I will likely stay with that now. I liked the look of the bamboo pot though.
https://paulsellers.com/2012/10/3-in-1-yes-boiled-or-raw-linseed-oil-no/
I actually put a little chain saw bar oil in with my mineral oil because it is formulated specifically to stick to metal. It’s too thick by itself, though.
Along those lines, sewing machine oil (also odorless) is probably a better lubricant than mineral oil for things like hand drills etc. but kind of expensive for the rag-in-a-can.
Dave
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Dave Ring.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Dave Ring.
13 February 2018 at 10:25 pm #471100yeah,
WD-40 has Naphta in it, and 3 in 1 has both Naphta and citronella oil in it, so I didn’t mention them for a low odor solution.
Jojoba oil also works, though it eventually seems to get thicker on a saw, but it’s pretty expensive.
And when I mentioned Bar oil, I meant the modern Canola based, not the petroleum based version. Petroleum bar oil is banned in some countries.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
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