How To Remove Oil From Oilite Bronze Bushing Material?

You turn slowly to keep from burning up your cutting tools. Oilite does not like HSS too much and will dull carbide quickly too if run at high speeds. I doubt it will spin out the oil. Oilite is pretty saturated with oil...
 
Not addressing the oil removal problem, but I have found that oilite is very much weaker than brass and will break, not bend. For your purposes, it should be OK, but you might try dropping one sample on the floor to see what will happen when a customer drops theirs.
 
fgduncan said:
Not addressing the oil removal problem, but I have found that oilite is very much weaker than brass and will break, not bend. For your purposes, it should be OK, but you might try dropping one sample on the floor to see what will happen when a customer drops theirs.
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Since it might be difficult to know if any oil is left in the handle after degreasing, it might be a good idea to wrap the finished handle tight with tissue paper. Then, a preshipping inspection of the tissue paper might reveal if oil content is acceptable.

Another test would be to dust the deoiled bushing with talc to see how it sticks. Scented talc as used for after-shave could score with some people.

BTW I would avoid applying beeswax to the handle. It ends up smelling bad, especially if it has been sitting in a closed box or bag for a while. Wouldn't want a customer to be greeted with a stench when they open the box!
 
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Re degreasing (or deoiling??) using strong solvents can be hazardous for you and the other occupants of the house.
What about mixing the handles in a bucket of Bentonite clay (cat litter) and letting them sit for a day or two? My bet is that oil will prefer the cat litter to the bushing.
 
Because the bushings are designed to trap and keep oil, soaking in any solvent or cleaner will just result in replacing the oil in the bushing pores with an oily solvent or cleaner. I think that you will have to cook off whatever is left. I would put them in a wood stove like Keith Fenner does.


Steve Shannon, P.E.
 
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