how soon can I shellac over a Linseed oil wipe?

[David Brown]

on my daughters surprise curley maple dresser? I did an anniline dye, sand, the dry wipe, not flood of linseed oil, then I am planninmg shellac. I have a Jeff jewitt book that says a few minutes, yet I recall reading elsewhere wait a few days, BIG difference, Thanks to all, Dave

[Todd Burch]

I usually let my linseed dry overnight before topcoating. Todd

[Joseph N. Myers]

Dave,

From "Understanding Wood Finishing", Bob Flexner, "Linseed oil ..... in its raw state, is an inefficient finish because it takes many days to cure. So, to make it more effective, metallic driers are added ... they act as catalysts to speed the curing..... With driers added, linseed oil cures in about a day and is called 'boiled' linseed oil. Unless you want an oil that cures very slowly, there's no reason to use raw linseed oil."

So the answer depends on which type of oil you used. I have used neither so I personnelly do not know how long either takes.

Shellac is good. Do a search on the recent thread "How do I eliminate varnish odor"; it has a lot of information on using shellac.

Regards, Joe

[Steven Wilson]

Assuming that you applied Boiled Linseed Oil (like you find at the BORG) and that you truly wiped on and off a thin coat then you could top it with shellac in an hour. Waiting a day is even better. If it's raw linseed oil that you applied then I would wait until it is dry ( a week more or less).

[Jim Becker]

For coating with Shellac I generally wait at least a day. For other finishes...at least a week or until the smell goes away. At that point, it's cured.

[Mac McAtee]

You can start with the shellac immediately. No problems, done it many times. And Jeff Jewitt said it in his book as well as when asked directly about it. You need not wait, go for it.