Bloxygen is really great stuff and saves me money.....

I have read about Bloxgen here on the forum and I just had to try it. http://www.bloxygen.com/

In September of last year (2013) I bought a can of Arm R Seal, Gloss and a can of Arm R Seal, Satin. As I use the finish I put Bloxgen in the Gloss as I used it and did not put any in the Satin.

Now a year later I have 1/2 a can of good Gloss and a half a can of hardened Satin.

So at $17 a can for the Arm R Seal, I just put $8.50 in the trash and I am still going with the can of Bloxygen.
If I had not spent the $12 for the Bloxygen I would have had to put $17 in the trash, so I am $5 up just on this little test.

I will be using it for all my cans of finish.

Its what I use for Waterlox.

I use argon from my TIG welding set up as it's paid for and on hand. I agree that it is worth isolating many finishes from air.

Thanks for the tip, Bill.

That's pretty interesting,does it preserve wood glue?

Lee Valley sells a similar product called Finish Preserve for - I think - about $12.00 per can - I have four cans arriving tomorrow via UPS. It works great - have used it for years.

Bloxygen is Argon gas in a spray can. Its funny how they patented it. LOL

I have used the canned air that is sold to dust off computers and such. I use it in my Waterlox cans and have never had a problem.

Try using wine preservative - same stuff, only cheaper.

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Originally Posted by Chris Fournier

I use argon from my TIG welding set up as it's paid for and on hand. I agree that it is worth isolating many finishes from air.

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Thanks for the tip. I have a MIG setup, I think the gas is Argon & CO2. Gonna try that.

Auto painters have used Bloxygen for years - those catalyst hardeners are hella expensive to have go bad on you.

I used the Blox for a while - works fine.

But since then, I changed direction. Got a bunch of mason jars - pint, cup, half-cup. All wide-mouth.

Use varnish out of the purchased can, then decant it into the mason jars:
> fill to about 1/8" from the rim
> gently "float" the appropriate thinner on top of the varnish, with a meniscus so it slightly over-full
> Gently drop the lid [not the ring, just the lid] on top - the little bit of extra thinner flows out and down the jar
> drop the ring in place, and tighten.

No air left.

I actually do this with three different mixes of the varnish:
> cask-strength
> brush-on, which is about 15% thinned
> wipe-on, which is about 50% thinned.

I am always using the brush-on and the wipe-on, so those are residuals as well, plus if I have an odd amount of cask or brush, I can always thin them down one notch, and get the right amount for a container.

Masking tape on the lid, with strength and date.

Stuff seems to last forever - 18 months, for sure - haven't gotten past that yet.

Very little waste. Plus - I always have some in the appropriate strength ready to go, without mixing more. I will generally try to keep multiples of the smaller sizes [2 half cups, rather than 1 cup] so I don't have to open a size that is larger than I need.

Interesting, Kent. So you are, in effect, just slightly thinning your mixture each time floating a bit of thinner on the top, right?

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Originally Posted by Chris Padilla

Interesting, Kent. So you are, in effect, just slightly thinning your mixture each time floating a bit of thinner on the top, right?

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Yep - you got it. A very tiny %, which makes no difference in the performance of the varnish. But - There is zero air left in the mason jar when I cap it - good as new, in terms of shelf life. The thinner - and the meniscus - give me an air-tight fill, with just a bit of thinner dribbling down the outside of the jar.

For example - the brush-on version @ 15%: That is a guess. To make it, I add a little bit of thinner at a time, mix it in, watch it flow off the brush, try it on the surface, add more as needed. I honestly don't know the exact %, because I never measured it, because it doesn't matter.... within a +/- range - if if flows properly on the workpiece, then it is the correct %, right?. So the thinner added when I "can it" is not ever going to be noticeable - I could have easily added that extra tiny bit when mixing up the brush-on batch, and never noticed it.

Same with cask strength - the thinner added makes no impact on the end use.

When I am done, I might, for example, use the remnants of 1 pint brush-on strength to can 1/2 cup of brush-on and reduce the remnants for 1/2 cup of wipe-on. Nuttin' goes out of shelf-life, and virtually nuttin' gets left out to harden/dispose. And I don't buy the Blox - good product, no complaints, but pricey and not necessary, IMO. YMMV.

If, for example, I end up with more wipe-on than I need, the arithmetic is simple to take those into a larger jar, and add cask-strength to get me into the brush-on category, and move the remaining cask-strength to a smaller jar[s].

I get into a minor amount of jar management, but they clean right up with thinner if I don't need them.

If I need to store varnish, it simply does not matter what reduction was in there before versus what reduction I am storing - the varnish is not that sensitive.

I just use propane ... heavier than air so it creates a "layer" of protection on top of the finish ... cheap & readily available ... works just fine.