I got a wooden back basket. Noticed how of the wood stripes are a lil cracked after a long season. Was wondering how to fix it up a lil. Wanted to get another season or two out of it.

Vegetable Oil & paint brush.
Do inside, outside and bottom of basket.





My basket is an Isman. These baskets are still being made by his grandson, Jim 'Moon' Van Steenberg, Corsica, Pa.
'Moon' recommended to me, use vegetable oil to restore dried baskets.

Nice....I have a wooden basket too and thought about using butcher block or linseed oil.

Yes, vegetable oil works great. Did my old basket last fall and was impressed how it turned out!

Not sure if this mix should be put on a pack basket used for trapping but it's really good for just about anything wood that's exposed to the elements.

Turpentine 1 qt
Boiled Linseed Oil 1 qt
Pine Tar 1/2 pt
Japan Drier 1/2 or

You can increase the pine tar to darken the finish but it will take longer to dry. Increasing the Japan Drier by half again will reduce the drying time with no I'll effects to the finish.

One of the best parts of using this is the smell of pine tar.

I used linseed oil and turned out pretty good. Did it a few years ago and holding up really well. Also tightened it up a little. It was kinda flimsy before I did it.

Good linseed oil does a more durable job from my experience. Let it soak in wipe off and re coat again.

Well what if a couple slots are a lil splintered? Think the pine tar would fix That?

Like others here I use linseed oil.

3 coats of spar varnish on mine

I will experiment around with it. Sure it will look really nice when done.