How To Remove Oil From Oilite Bronze Bushing Material?

[Cadillac STS]

I have some solid non bearing bronze I could use but thought I would try to make this work. It is not important, just a project. My brother sells custom shaving brush handles and I make some different ones for him when I get the time. For me is is nice to be able to do some simple work for fun and give them to him to get what he can for them. You'd be surprised what people pay for custom one of a kind things. With solid bronze it is very heavy so the aluminum filled bronze has a lighter feel but I ran into this issue.

It was a bearing with a one inch center and I pressed a piece of aluminum through it. Plan is to use the longer aluminum part to hold it in the lathe until I cut it off and bore out the 22mm socket for the brush to be put in. I only machined the ends a little shorter so didn't cut the surface.


Before treatment when it blackened fingers easily:





After degreasing with brake cleaner and soaking in hot water and Dawn soap:

The discoloring is actually nice and it is a distressed piece, more old scratches the better.




Right now it doesn't make any black on the fingers but feels mildly oily.

I might go with heat, maybe acetone.

 

[jim18655]

Try boiling in the dish soap solution.

 

[Billh50]

For aircraft bushings after machining oil-lite bronze we used to have to submerge them in hot clean oil to get the oil back into the bronze. Some oil was always lost due to the heat from machining. So I would try soaking in a warm solvent or heated dish soap solution.

 

[Cadillac STS]

For aircraft bushings after machining oil-lite bronze we used to have to submerge them in hot clean oil to get the oil back into the bronze. Some oil was always lost due to the heat from machining. So I would try soaking in a warm solvent or heated dish soap solution.

Hmm. Maybe I could boil out the oil and then re-infuse it with lanolin. Since it is going to be a shaving brush handle it could have the feature of a durable dispenser for skin soothing oil too..

 

[4GSR]

In the older Boston Gear catalogs, they used to publish instructions on re-supplying oil to Oilite bushings after machining. Been too many years to remember if they had instructions on removing oil from the bushings. Maybe someone here has a old catalog to look at and tell us.

 

[Cadillac STS]

In the older Boston Gear catalogs, they used to publish instructions on re-supplying oil to Oilite bushings after machining. Been too many years to remember if they had instructions on removing oil from the bushings. Maybe someone here has a old catalog to look at and tell us.

What do you remember about how to re-supply oil to the oilite bushings?

 

[4GSR]

What do you remember about how to re-supply oil to the oilite bushings?

All I can remember is you place them in a pan of hot oil and let them soak for "X" amount of time. As other have said.

 

[foleda]

281370390753

How to de-oil the surface so it can be handled without giving off oil?

Quite by accident (I was looking for collet dimensions)I discovered instructions for doing this on Logan Actuator's site:
http://www.loganact.com/tips/sleeve_bearings/oilube5.gif

Bottom line: soak for 12 hrs in an aromatic solvent (toluene or xylene).

They also had re-oiling instructions. Vacuum impregnation was recommended but soaking in 150-175F oil
will produce 90% saturation.

 

[middle.road]

Similar to using Dawn, I've used 'Super Clean' undiluted to de-grease. It used to be made by Castrol, but I'm not sure who makes it now.
I picked up my last gallon at Advance Auto. I just let items sit in it elevated off the bottom.

 

[GarageGuy]

I read that when turning Oilite bushings you need to turn them slowly or you will spin the oil out. Try chucking it up and spinning it at high speed. That should get rid of a lot of it.

GG