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

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    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.

  2. #2
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    Its what I use for Waterlox.

  3. #3
    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.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the tip, Bill.

  5. #5
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    That's pretty interesting,does it preserve wood glue?

  6. #6
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    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.

  7. #7
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    Bloxygen is Argon gas in a spray can. Its funny how they patented it. LOL

  8. #8
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    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.

  9. #9
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    Try using wine preservative - same stuff, only cheaper.
    "A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths."
    -Steven Wright.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Fournier View Post
    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. 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.

  11. #11
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    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.
    Last edited by Kent A Bathurst; 10-23-2014 at 11:26 AM.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  12. #12
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    Interesting, Kent. So you are, in effect, just slightly thinning your mixture each time floating a bit of thinner on the top, right?
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Interesting, Kent. So you are, in effect, just slightly thinning your mixture each time floating a bit of thinner on the top, right?
    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.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  14. #14
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    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.

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