Oil of Delft

In Reply to: Re: Oil of Delft posted by rob howard on 09/01/00 at 8:16 AM:

: >>>>(modern stand oil i.e. oil polymerized at high temperature in the absence of oxygen is not mentioned in the early accounts nor is damar resin which came into use in the late 19th century)<<<

: Actualy, people were very aware of how to heat oils in an oxygen-free atmosphere well before the Industrial Revolution. Let's not forget that one of the biggest businesses in Holland during the time of Rubens and, later, Rembrandt, was the manufacture of high quality lenses. Making microscopes is also not an occupation done by technically backward people. They also came up with the chemical manufacture of an inexpensive and improved synthetic vermilion, a solid formula we have not altered to date.

: We like to flatter ourselves that scientific thought did not begin until a few month's ago, but a quick perusal of Diderot's engravings shows those oddly dressed geezers involved in all sorts of technologically advanced manufacturing. Thus, adding a dash of carbolic to an enclosed tank of oil and heating it to 535F was something of which they were easily capable. Whilst the old writings might not mention it, that does not mean anything other than we are not reading all of the ancillarywritings, but only those translated into our language and aimed at a narrow audience. Remember, the new writngs such a Mayer and Doerner do not mention electricity because it is so common as to not bear mentioning.

: BTW Stand Oil is in no way polymerized. That implies a compositional change that either add or remove molecules. That's Sun Thickened. That has a different molecular weight than does raw oil. Stand Oil has had the molecules REARRANGED but nothing is added or taken away. The molecular weight is identical with that of raw oil. It is VERY different from Sun-Thickened oil and far, far more stable. It was well-known to Rubens and is not Sun-Thickened oil that was renamed for the convenience of dilatory scholars.

I have no doubt that the ancients were capable of making stand oil as you say, but the absence of mention of its being made suggests that if it was made it was not widely used. I was not aware that stand oil was not polymerized oil; I have never read that in any of the standard texts. I am not doubting your statement, I am just confounded that none of the authorities including the current ones such as Gottsegen have set the record straight instead of passing on the standard wisdom, which you say is incorrect.
 
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