3 in 1 Yes, Boiled or Raw Linseed Oil? NO!!!!!!!!!

Re oil-soaked rags and using linseed oil, whether boiled or raw

A few posts back I told of rolling up a rag and stuffing it in a can to use as an applicator on hand tools. I omitted to emphasize the use 3-1 light machine oil or light machine oil for which i apologise, but because he had a wooden plane he thought Linseed oil would be more appropriate. The problem of course is that vegetable oil-soaked rags burn spontaeously and machine oils don't.

WARNING !

Check this website and the work they did to make people aware and convinced about oil-soaked rags and spontaneous combustion.

Here is another that talks about light machine and machine oil being quite safe because they don't spontaneously combust. As I have had my can and other cans wadded up and oil soaked for decades, I can vouch for the safety issue with this.

Here is my reply with the Q&A from the Comments Section of my blog for you and others:

In reply to:

Ryan 49 minutes ago

 Mr. Sellers,I have something of a novel situation that I would love to hear your thoughts on. As a woodworker, for whatever reason, I have developed something of an addiction to building wooden handplanes. At present, I have two smoothing planes I just finished with full-size Hock irons bedded at 50 and 55 degrees respectively. I am presently soaking a rag to try the oil method you suggest (I used boiled linseed instead of machine as it is a wooden plane) however, I like your solution of inserting vibration dampening material. On a wood plane, the blade needs a very slight ability to slip to change the depth without removing the wedge entirely. What would you suggest to accomplish this? I think the silicone will probably prove to be a grip that is a tad too effective. Felt? Leather? Thanks for your help and I appreciate you posting this article.I'm bookmarking your blog right now so I can read over it! Hello Ryan,
First of all - GO INTO YOUR WORK AREA AND TAKE THE RAG FROM THE CAN, TAKE iT OUTSIDE, OPEN IT OUT ON THE OPEN GROUND AND LEAVE UNTIL COMPLETELY DRY!!!!!
3-1 light machine oil is not spontaneously combustable and Boiled and Raw linseed oil is. Wadded rags soaked in linseed oil are the source of fires as they ignite spontaneously according to certain conditions existing such as warmth, atmospheric content and so on. Even cloths laid out with no folds have been known to set on fire. This is the same with Danish oils and many more.
I think that tapping on the cutting iron on the silicone shelf liner would most likely work and is worth the test.
Re dampening planes
I think perhaps felt and leather may be too thick and cushioning for what we want here, unless you have some super thin material for this. The silicone shelf liner compresses markedly and is barely detectable when the lever cam (bench planes) or cap iron (spokeshaves) is installed.