[Strawbale] Hydrated Lime in Linseed Oil (was Re:Oak)

Tue May 8 08:22:14 CDT 2007

Dear Bravehearts,

Ok, it looks like the dam is breaking and I'm just gonna have to come clean
with some trade secrets. Usually masons thought they could protect their
ability to make a great living by knowing how to do things and they just
called everyone else 'the Cowan.' This word is interestingly from the route
word 'coward' because it refers to people who slip through the cracks, not
wanting to run a full apprenticeship and become a journeyman mason but
instead just do a little eavesdropping and find out the secrets without
doing the time. Even though I have put years into the trade, if I didn't
have friends who have unearthed ancient methods and who were willing to
share such things with me I would not have a greater depth of understanding
had I relied solely on my limited window of experience. Trade school today
is not like the ancient guild! So, I am grateful to share this with you, and
not hide it. I hope you find this useful. I mentioned to Sigi that we are
currently employing the second of the two listed methods on a Pennsylvania
Museum. I think all of you who are committed to this listserve have
demonstrated that you don't want anything more than to exchange good things
so as to not do the work twice and avoid making costly errors on the
buildings you are building. Therefore with all these signs of Bravery, (and
I would say you've gotta be pretty brave building with 'trashcrete'), I
offer the following for sand/lime mastic:

Take a small electric concrete mixer and point a torpedo heater into the
barrel 1/2 full of sharp well-graded sand until you get the sand to 400c. Do
this while the small portable electric machine is turning. You are doing
this to dissociate the chemically bound water which is in the sand. Then you
let the sand cool down. You add 8% of sand weight in crushed Rosin. Don't
buy a block of rosin used for violin bows, get powdered rosin (from tree
bark) with grains the size of table salt or finer. Rosin is used as a
'dryer.' Mix the sand and rosin together and keep it in a sealed drum until
you are ready for the next step. The next step: Mix in a 50% boiled and 50%
raw linseed oil mixture to take the place of the displaced water in the dry
sand and rosin and now the oils become chemically bound to the sand. When
pointing up that void between a window frame and brick or stonework, start
from the bottom, having already placed backer rod, (or sheep's wool
compacted back an inch from the face of the wood and stone), and point up
the void. You should first prime the interior edges of the masonry and the
wood with a straight linseed oil mixture without the sand and rosin put in
it.

My friend, Ian Cramb, a 78 year old Stone Mason originally from Scotland,
now lives a 1/2 hour away from me in Bangor, PA has a similar recipe. He
uses Natural Hydraulic lime and no rosin. The ratio of lime to sand is 1:2.
The linseed oil takes the place of any water in the mix. He uses rope or
rolled up newspaper packed into the jamb as the backer rod. FYI He has a
great book, The Art of the Stonemason, ISBN 0-011469-27-3. He has a special
son, as I do, and I encourage you to consider buying his book because it is
a great resource for stonework. His son is in his 40's and as Ian and Betty
are getting up there in years they often ponder the issues their son will
face in their absence. So, I make this known because I am sure every little
bit helps them prepare for the future.

I will be demonstrating the making and placing methods of the mastic at APVA
's Restore Virginia! (Association of the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities) Sept 22,23 in Staunton, VA for anyone interested.
http://www.apva.org/ The Staunton event may not be posted on their site yet.

Sincerely,

Andy deGruchy

p.s. Another good reason to divulge trade secrets is that no one seems to be
going into the traditional masonry trade anymore and therefore no one seems
to care what these old methods are. So I both doubt I must worry about job
security and I am secondly thankful that this group has interest. Please
excuse me though. I have a hard time finding the time to write. I get a lot
of e-mails from all over the place about masonry and lime. I now ask the
listserve to flag me if I may be of help by sending me a direct e-mail.
Thanks for understanding and Bale-On dudes and dudesses.... with so many
bales... and so little time. Right-ON!

-----Original Message-----
From: strawbale-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:strawbale-bounces at listserv.repp.org]On Behalf Of Rob Tom
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 6:35 PM
To: SB REPP
Cc: SB Yahoos
Subject: [Strawbale] Fwd: Hydrated Lime in Linseed Oil (was Re:Oak)

------- Forwarded message -------
From: CALXA at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Strawbale] Oak
Date: Fri, 04 May 2007 09:58:54 -0400

Somewhere in the  ancient info about lime use is the use of hydrated  lime
(Calcium Hydroxide) in linseed oil...The Chemical reaction is
saponification of
the fatty acids, making a water proof linseed oil..  The  reference was to
use of linseed oil on furniture.....where the addition of lime  made the
finish
water proof, and therefore didn't cause your damp, hot weather
prespiration
coated arm stick to the arm rest....

[an RT Aside:  One time lo-o-o-ong ago I seem to recall mentioning to Beel
and Harry something about window glazing putty wondering if it was made
 from lime putty and linseed oil. I forget what Harry's answer was but I
remember Beel wanting to make a wager.
Sheesh. What a guy eh ? Betting on window putty. Back to Harry.]

I think it would be added by mixing lime slurry into hot linseed oil...how
much ?????

Old yellow wheel bearing grease is made this way....hot oil, add lime
slurry, and stir..

I expect the same tprocess would be used to treat linseed oil.....in fact
any oil..as did Cleopatra in making face cream from olive oil and lime.
:)

might also repel the bugs....

Harry
============ End of forwarded message===============

--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at   C h a f f Y a h o o  dot  C a  >
(winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply)

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