doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Diatemaceous Earth to remove oil?

I recently used DE to help remove oil from an unfinished curly sugar maple stock I had to bend with hot oil and heat guns. It worked pretty well for the heaviest portion. I applied DE, sat the stock in the AZ sun for an hour and then wiped it off and applied another fresh coat of DE. Did this about a dozen times over three days and it removed most of the oil. Wiped it down with denatured alcohol a couple times and continued building from there. I still didn't get all the oil but enough that the acid stain and finish worked fine.

I might be able to help here, having spent 35 years working with industrial wastewater treatments systems that included oil and grease removal. I have used all of the chemicals mentioned here. The DE will work but it is a very inert material and any oil removed will be from the oil sticking to particles of DE. DE comes is many grades ranging from very course to very fine. You might want to consider trying bentonite clay. Bentonite clay actually has an affinity for oil and grease very similar to a how a magnet works with a metal.

The other chemicals like potassium hydroxide (KOH, caustic potash) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH or caustic soda) work by braking O&G particles down into smaller particles and dispersing them in a solution such as water. Both are strongly alkaline. Wood ash is slightly alkaline and would therefore work well at removing some O&G as long as there is some moisture in the ash. A word of caution - highly alkaline (high pH) material can break down the cellulose in wood and make it brittle. That's not a good idea for a gun stock.

I use[d] diatomaceous earth to rid the house of fleas the dog brought in. Sprinkle it along the baseboards and such and it worked like a charm. Vacuum it up a month or so later.
It's a good bug killer.

The most complete way to remove oil from wood though the equipment is a little on the pricey side but it works incredibly well, it requires a re-sealable thick walled metal box and a mid level vacuum pump with a method of heating the box continuously to about 25oC 77F. The wood is wrapped in cloth and surrounded by Fullers Earth but Cat litter will also work to soak up the oil. The wood is left in the reduced warm atmosphere until the oil stops traveling to the surface leaving the wood virtually oil free.

Hmmm.

That sound like a combination of an old refrigerator compressor and a candle warmer or Hot Plate. Compressors and metal boxes are easy to come by at the Scrap Yard...Peelable weatherstripping caulk could be used each time the box is sealed. The gauge controlling the power would be the hard part.

Wait, I actually have an old air compressor with a bad tank. I bet I can adapt it..

damascus,

Any idea on how long the process would take?

That vacuum method sounds very interesting. I've seen vacuum pumps used to evacuate air from air conditioning systems sell for $50.00 or less at auto parts swap meets, and that's what I paid for a brand new Robinair air conditioning service vacuum pump. I'd imagine you'd want your vessel containing the stock to be very well sealed so that the pump wasn't running continuously once you pulled a vacuum. Once you pulled the desired vacuum, you would valve it off.

I've often wondered if you couldn't do the exact opposite to get a finish to penetrate much deeper into the wood, much like pressure treated lumber. But pressure treated lumber is much heavier, so the added weight of a gun stock so treated might outweigh the benefits of being better sealed against moisture.

Keith,

I know that when I vacuum seal my marinated steaks the marinade penetrates the meat much deeper. Opposite of the overpressure you're talking about for stock finish.

There are some variables as you would expect like how low you take the vacuum, the surrounding temperature and how much oil there is in the wood to start with. But the usual time is between three and five days though the lower the vacuum the faster it all works.

Wood stabilizing is done by a bunch of firms and individuals, and has been done on gun stocks. A simple brake bleeder can draw vacuum, but it might be hard work. Capped pipe and a small ball valve can hold vacuum.

If you try it, you might consider using something that cures, and you can still use your favorite finish on the out side.

To make such an easy thing so complicated WOW! And no one has mentioned concrete mix and that soaks up oil pretty good.

Massive efforts and all you really have to do is toss the thing in an acetone and then alky bath.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=wonko%27s+brew

some of you must be realllly desperate for something to do

have another day
Dr.WtS