Wood loading blocks preservation

[Mark_Mark]

I’ve use 10+ gallons of this stuff. Soaks into the wood nicely

 

[CQB45ACP]

I like in an area where it is so humid I have mold issues, everywhere.

Still, if I lived again in the dry southwest, I would coat the wood with boiled linseed oil, till the wood was saturated, use a urethane on top. My dad, and myself, used epoxy clear coat on Dad's sail boat. You can find the stuff in marine stores, and it used to be $125.00 a gallon. That stuff is far more durable than any urethane, but out in the Florida sun, with the humidity and salt air, everything rusts and deteriorates.

Whenever I travel out west, I have to liberally coat my hands in hand lotion several times a day, and even then, the skin cracks at the ends of my fingers. It is dry out there! I bet the Japanese American's , the Germans, and the Italian POW's at Camp Lordburg, all wished for a little rain.

View attachment 1095622


View attachment 1095623

Yep they wished for rain and hoped they weren’t going to be treated the way they knew our captured guys were.

Ironically, if you squint, that view resembles Mt. Fuji or Mt. Vesuvius.

 

[Slamfire]

Yep they wished for rain and hoped they weren’t going to be treated the way they knew our captured guys were.

Ironically, if you squint, that view resembles Mt. Fuji or Mt. Vesuvius.

We treated the Japanese, Italians, and Germans far better than the UK or Russia. I don't know how many captured Japanese were in Camp Lordsburg, but probably not many. I heard first hand stories from CBI theater, and USMC Marines why so few alive ones were brought in. According to the Lordsburg locals who showed me the eagle, the Italians were happy to be out of the war, they were non belligerent, and were considered safe to watch over American children. To get the maximum work and discipline out of the Germans, Camps left the German NCO's in charge of their men. Captured Germans were so efficient and hard working, that businesses that had them, actively lobbied their Congressmen to be allowed to keep them once the war was over! That did not happen in the US, but those German POW's who were shipped to the UK, on the way back to Germany, were turned into slave laborers for the British.

Forced labor of Germans after World War II

United Kingdom

In 1946, the UK had more than 400,000 German prisoners of war, many of whom had been transferred from POW camps in the U.S. and Canada. Many of these were used as forced labourers, as a form of war reparations

In 1947 the Ministry of Agriculture argued against rapid repatriation of working German prisoners, since by then they made up 25 percent of the land workforce, and they wanted to keep employing them into 1948.[27] Faced with political difficulties in using foreign labor, the Ministry of Agriculture offered a compromise, in which German prisoners of war who volunteered were to be allowed to remain in Britain as free men.[27] Following disputes about how many former prisoners of war would be permitted to remain voluntarily in Britain and whether they would first have to return briefly to Germany before being allowed to officially migrate to Britain,[27] by the end of 1947 about 250,000 of the prisoners of war were repatriated, and the last repatriations took place in November 1948.[26] About 24,000 chose to remain voluntarily in Britain.[26]

Those Germans who made it back home from the UK, once they found out how their Eastern Front comrades had fared, considered themselves lucky. Many Germans who went straight home from the USA thought their US prison years were some of the best of their lives. They were fed better, clothed better, housed better, paid for working, and received better treatment than they got from the German Army!

 

[CQB45ACP]

We treated the Japanese, Italians, and Germans far better than the UK or Russia. I don't know how many captured Japanese were in Camp Lordsburg, but probably not many. I heard first hand stories from CBI theater, and USMC Marines why so few alive ones were brought in. According to the Lordsburg locals who showed me the eagle, the Italians were happy to be out of the war, they were non belligerent, and were considered safe to watch over American children. To get the maximum work and discipline out of the Germans, Camps left the German NCO's in charge of their men. Captured Germans were so efficient and hard working, that businesses that had them, actively lobbied their Congressmen to be allowed to keep them once the war was over! That did not happen in the US, but those German POW's who were shipped to the UK, on the way back to Germany, were turned into slave laborers for the British.

Forced labor of Germans after World War II

United Kingdom

In 1946, the UK had more than 400,000 German prisoners of war, many of whom had been transferred from POW camps in the U.S. and Canada. Many of these were used as forced labourers, as a form of war reparations

In 1947 the Ministry of Agriculture argued against rapid repatriation of working German prisoners, since by then they made up 25 percent of the land workforce, and they wanted to keep employing them into 1948.[27] Faced with political difficulties in using foreign labor, the Ministry of Agriculture offered a compromise, in which German prisoners of war who volunteered were to be allowed to remain in Britain as free men.[27] Following disputes about how many former prisoners of war would be permitted to remain voluntarily in Britain and whether they would first have to return briefly to Germany before being allowed to officially migrate to Britain,[27] by the end of 1947 about 250,000 of the prisoners of war were repatriated, and the last repatriations took place in November 1948.[26] About 24,000 chose to remain voluntarily in Britain.[26]

Those Germans who made it back home from the UK, once they found out how their Eastern Front comrades had fared, considered themselves lucky. Many Germans who went straight home from the USA thought their US prison years were some of the best of their lives. They were fed better, clothed better, housed better, paid for working, and received better treatment than they got from the German Army!

I agree and would add: In the 1930s & 40s, millions of Germans immigrated to the US adding to the millions already here. At one point, Baltimore was more than 50% German. So there was (and is) a kinship with Americans. (And since the SS mongrels were the primary guards of POWs, they practiced their subhuman cruelty on them.)

Such kinship/respect still isn’t the case with the UK and France. For the Brits, great ill will was created during the Blitz which was an intentional and especially cruel war against the British civilians and the French had two-wars worth of occupation and butchery and quislings.

It’s difficult for me to understand how any European country would not today have very liberal firearms laws so citizens would never again be at the mercy of invaders or turncoats. (Hmm. Things in Ukraine might even be different with an armed citizenry.) And in turn they’d be producing all sorts of cool reloading stuff including carved loading block/coo-coo clock combinations made of Black Forest fir.

 

[BushMaster-15]

NOT directed at anyone personally just a keen observation over the decades : Oil isn't all that wonderful as the quality depending upon manufacturer varies tremendously . Better than nothing absolutely .
As a Chemist I formulated mostly epoxies urethane clear and paint FINISHES . Granted mostly aerospace but some Marine early on for well known international companies .
I had a neighbor who asked me one day what the Best product he could apply to a hardwood deck on his house would be . I had him buy CWF and I supplied him with Gymthane by Duraseal .
I helped him sand the deck properly clean it and applied the 1 St. coat of oil based finish .
He had a sprinkler which came on every other day on the side of his house which got FULL Sun ,so I took a small piece of decking we had replaced and fully coated it , then propped it up on the edge of his yard . Forgot about it , after couple of years went back and grabbed it and except for some minor calcium manganese water spotting it was in remarkably GOOD condition .
As his deck was mostly covered ,I suggested recoating after #5 years . We had moved by that time but he sent a couple of pictures at X Mass and it looked like New .

Unfortunately about two years after that Flood stopped manufacturing solvent oil modified CWF and went water borne and it as many early water based products ( Remember Chevrolet's and Chrysler's Paint peel ? ) were horrible products . Auto manufactures still used oil solvent based undercoating priming systems and attempted water based top coating without a mechanical bond . Results PEEL AWAY top coats . Live and learn they did as it cost them DEARLY !.

 

[CQB45ACP]

NOT directed at anyone personally just a keen observation over the decades : Oil isn't all that wonderful as the quality depending upon manufacturer varies tremendously . Better than nothing absolutely .
As a Chemist I formulated mostly epoxies urethane clear and paint FINISHES . Granted mostly aerospace but some Marine early on for well known international companies .
I had a neighbor who asked me one day what the Best product he could apply to a hardwood deck on his house would be . I had him buy CWF and I supplied him with Gymthane by Duraseal .
I helped him sand the deck properly clean it and applied the 1 St. coat of oil based finish .
He had a sprinkler which came on every other day on the side of his house which got FULL Sun ,so I took a small piece of decking we had replaced and fully coated it , then propped it up on the edge of his yard . Forgot about it , after couple of years went back and grabbed it and except for some minor calcium manganese water spotting it was in remarkably GOOD condition .
As his deck was mostly covered ,I suggested recoating after #5 years . We had moved by that time but he sent a couple of pictures at X Mass and it looked like New .

Unfortunately about two years after that Flood stopped manufacturing solvent oil modified CWF and went water borne and it as many early water based products ( Remember Chevrolet's and Chrysler's Paint peel ? ) were horrible products . Auto manufactures still used oil solvent based undercoating priming systems and attempted water based top coating without a mechanical bond . Results PEEL AWAY top coats . Live and learn they did as it cost them DEARLY !.

Not directed at you or modern chemists or paint manufacturer’s but around 20 years ago in Annapolis Maryland a colonial era house was being restored and as they were removing and documenting colors of layer after layer of exterior paint up to 200 years old they approached the original layer on some intricate cornice molding and found NO wood. However long ago the wood decomposed. Now that’s some protection.

 

[Soonerpesek]

so I took a small piece of decking we had replaced and fully coated it , then propped it up on the edge of his yard . Forgot about it , after couple of years went back and grabbed it and except for some minor calcium manganese water spotting it was in remarkably GOOD condition .

Probably not a good example since you propped it up so the water could run off of it readily, therefore the sprinkler water wasn’t doing it any real harm…Anyhooo, I’m guessing the OP’s wood loading blocks aren’t subject to that harsh of conditions, so a light coat of wipe on poly or the like would suffice…

…..and…. isn’t it a common fact that water based finishes and oil based finishes don’t mix well…why would one be applied over the other…?……………asking for a friend….

 

[BushMaster-15]

Probably not a good example since you propped it up so the water could run off of it readily, therefore the sprinkler water wasn’t doing it any real harm…Anyhooo, I’m guessing the OP’s wood loading blocks aren’t subject to that harsh of conditions, so a light coat of wipe on poly or the like would suffice…

…..and…. isn’t it a common fact that water based finishes and oil based finishes don’t mix well…why would one be applied over the other…?……………asking for a friend….

Actually the bushes grew or wind blew and that board was laying flat and on the ground ,water every other day in Brutal SoCal weather 350 + days of UV would have done in that piece of hardwood in a manner of months .
Old CWF and Gymthane combined to lock in oil and moisture ; with Olefin Polymer among other things .

Back when auto refinishers were knuckling under to the EPA ,for VOC solvent content , Manufacturers thought they had the solution with a conversion etch coat so as to bond between oil /solvent base primer and water borne top coat . THEY WERE WRONG some Company's tried telling them ,at Akzo Nobel WE KNEW BETTER !. Sometimes bean counters have the last job they'll ever have . It's one thing to calculate actual physical damage cost but they neglected to include PRODUCT INTEGRITY WITH CONSUMER CONFIDENCE !. Not long after who bought Chrysler /Dodge !!. Chevy ran to China bilking US customers for BILLION in lost investments . Subprime melt down wasn't all housing markets . FYI : Water based finishes raise grain in wood and also rust bare metal ,is why some products are better than others for specific tasks .

Alcohol + water with surfactant and special polymers allow water based primer coats ,NOW . They hadn't been formulated in the 80's-90's .

 

[CQB45ACP]

Actually the bushes grew or wind blew and that board was laying flat and on the ground ,water every other day in Brutal SoCal weather 350 + days of UV would have done in that piece of hardwood in a manner of months .
Old CWF and Gymthane combined to lock in oil and moisture ; with Olefin Polymer among other things .

Back when auto refinishers were knuckling under to the EPA ,for VOC solvent content , Manufacturers thought they had the solution with a conversion etch coat so as to bond between oil /solvent base primer and water borne top coat . THEY WERE WRONG some Company's tried telling them ,at Akzo Nobel WE KNEW BETTER !. Sometimes bean counters have the last job they'll ever have . It's one thing to calculate actual physical damage cost but they neglected to include PRODUCT INTEGRITY WITH CONSUMER CONFIDENCE !. Not long after who bought Chrysler /Dodge !!. Chevy ran to China bilking US customers for BILLION in lost investments . Subprime melt down wasn't all housing markets . FYI : Water based finishes raise grain in wood and also rust bare metal ,is why some products are better than others for specific tasks .

Alcohol + water with surfactant and special polymers allow water based primer coats ,NOW . They hadn't been formulated in the 80's-90's .

We used to drive up the PA turnpike a couple times a year and PPG had a large field of paint/finish samples weathering away don’t recall where exactly. I often wondered if anyone really paid attention.

As for 2008/9 financial meltdown. Yep, there’s a reason GMAC is gone (long live Ally).

 

[BushMaster-15]

We used to drive up the PA turnpike a couple times a year and PPG had a large field of paint/finish samples weathering away don’t recall where exactly. I often wondered if anyone really paid attention.

As for 2008/9 financial meltdown. Yep, there’s a reason GMAC is gone (long live Ally).

Yep all protective surface finishes are subjected to 90 and 45 Deg. weathering tests . Most companies prefer accelerated weathering tests indoors ,as they allow 24/7 UV and or salt spray . Marine finishes are not only UV but salt fog spray . Different materials have different standards of testing but all generally have one common goal ; Practical service life ,,as described by the ASTM governing body of standards . Mil Spec are different standards but amount to the same goal .

 

[CQB45ACP]

Yep all protective surface finishes are subjected to 90 and 45 Deg. weathering tests . Most companies prefer accelerated weathering tests indoors ,as they allow 24/7 UV and or salt spray . Marine finishes are not only UV but salt fog spray . Different materials have different standards of testing but all generally have one common goal ; Practical service life ,,as described by the ASTM governing body of standards . Mil Spec are different standards but amount to the same goal .

These were 45degree now that you mention it.

 

[BushMaster-15]

These were 45degree now that you mention it.

That's common practice setting test panels out to the weather , Florida ,Arizona ,Calf., NV. TX. all pretty much utilize high UV exposure for testing stations . Where I used to spend a fair amount of time in Desert Southwest Anza Borrego a small place called Ocotillo Wells ,CA. , had testing facility for many things including tire torture . Brutal Hot there can exceed 120 Deg. F. as it's the Desert . The only other places that I can recall being worse was Lake Havasu City and Death Valley both upper 120's when I was foolish enough to be there .