I like the detail about the boiled linseed oil and shellac finish. Point of interest: I take it that the finish is an INTERIOR one? I can't see it lasting long outdoors.

From a stickler's point of view, the stuff they sell as boiled linseed oil nowadays is actually raw linseed oil treated with chemicals so it will dry.....untreated raw linseed oil will stay gummy seemingly forever, as I'm certain you've found out by now.

REAL boiled linseed oil IS available; the best source is an ad I'd seen in the back of Old House Journal, IIRC.
We used to carry some at the hardware store I worked at, but it's shelf life and lack of turnover meant we stopped carrying it.

WHICH REMINDS ME.......
Once apon a time I was bossing a crew on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston(?), where we were doing excavations of the foundations of a commercial building someone was considering for rehab.
We found in the basement a COMPLETE Civil Defense facility/shelter, with medical rooms, everything...up to and including sealed 1950's medical supplies of stuff that would probably be considered a felony to look at, let alone have in your possession.
We were given permission to take what we wanted after we properly disposed of the more scary stuff.
The amount and variety of things in there were simply astounding. The basement windows had lead-lined steel shutters, sealable from the inside.
As we finished, we discovered that the walls and ceiling of the basement were also lined with 1/4 inch sheet lead, which we converted to coffee money. LOTS of coffee money. And BBQ from the guy down the street selling it off the trailer/BBQ he had parked along the street. And I do mean, he COOKED the stuff right there! Who needs a store front to sell BBQ?

I regret not having the wherewithal to save and store more of the stuff, which nowadays would go for nice $$ to collectors......this happening in 1985....I do still have an original, never used white gas 'CD' Coleman-style lantern; unfortunately the incredibly dense cardboard box got wet, so I made a ply-and-brass box for it, varnishing the instructions/parts sheet to the inside. This lantern is STILL unused, as I have plenty of Coleman lanterns, and will rescue one at the sight of it. The stoves, too....got a 3-burner stove last summer at a yardsale, NIB for $10! WOOHOO!!

But I digress.
What I really meant to offer was a HARDWARE STORE on Blue Hill Ave., in a small wooden business block, painted medium green.
The single street entrance (the rest were sealed) led to a vestibule of wonders! All of the side rooms were dark, as the owner would turn the lights on when you wanted to go in that section...old school retailing, BTW! Why have the lights on when no-one's in there?!?! Obvious!

ANYway, I saw to my wondering eyes a complete factory display case of taps and dies; and other wonders that disappeared from the world many eons ago, or so it seems. A world long gone.
If I can find out if the store still exists, and it's location, I will let you know. I HOPE it's still there!!!

I hope, I hope.....

Excellent work on the Mod, and keep 'em coming. 12 GIG of RAM!