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Cold-Pressed Linseed Oil
Linseed oil is pressed from the ripe seed of flax. It is a drying oil: in air it takes up oxygen and hardens into a tough film, which makes it the binder of oil paint and a classic wood finish. A small hand-cranked screw press squeezes the oil out of the seed; the oil is left to settle and poured off clear.
This is raw linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil is raw oil with metallic driers added, and is not made here. Rags soaked in linseed oil can heat up and catch fire by themselves: step 6 is not optional.
Beginner
2 hours, plus 3 days settling
Instructions
1
1
Clean the seed
Clean the seed
Sieve 1 kg of dry flax seed to remove chaff, stones and broken seed.
Materials for this step:
Flax Seeds1 kgTools needed:
Sieve2
2
Set up the press
Set up the press
Clamp the screw press to the bench edge, a jar under the oil outlet and a bowl under the cake nozzle. Warm the press head as its maker describes; a cold head chokes.
Tools needed:
Manual Screw Oil Press
Bar Clamp
Glass Jars with Lids3
3
Press
Press
Fill the hopper and turn the crank steadily. Oil runs from the barrel and press cake comes out of the nozzle as a pellet. Keep the hopper topped up so the screw never runs empty.
Tools needed:
Manual Screw Oil Press4
4
Settle
Settle
Cap the jar of cloudy oil and leave it 3 days in a cool, dark place. The fine sediment sinks.
Tools needed:
Glass Jars with Lids5
5
Decant and bottle
Decant and bottle
Pour the clear oil off the sediment through a coffee filter in a funnel into a dark bottle. Fill it to the top, cap it, and store it cool and dark. Weigh the oil for the notebook.
Tools needed:
Coffee Filters / Filter Paper
Kitchen Funnel
Amber Glass Bottle
Digital Kitchen Scale6
6
Deal with oily rags
Deal with oily rags
Never bundle oily rags or filters. Spread them flat outdoors to dry, or put them in a metal bucket of water with the lid on, then dispose of them.
Tools needed:
Metal Bucket with Lid7
7
Your yield
Your yield
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8
8
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Screw press troubleshooting.
Flow
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Materials
1- 1 kgPlaceholder
Tools Required
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