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Author Topic: Oil removal from oil soaked wood  (Read 2022 times)

Offline Allen Eshleman

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Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« on: June 05, 2021, 01:30:08 PM »
I have seen some products mentioned here that some use to soak oil out of wood.   I did some searches but couldn't find it.

Offline George Truett

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2021, 02:41:58 PM »
You will see multiple methods, I like K2r spot remover.  Others suggest baking soda dissolved in thinner (acetone) or using a heat gun to draw oil out and wiping it off with paper towels.

Offline Allen Eshleman

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2021, 04:47:45 PM »
Thanks George.  These are the ideas I had heard but just couldn't find.  Thanks again. 

Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2021, 05:55:02 PM »
  By FAR the heat methods works the best. K2R is expensive and doesn't go very far. I haven't tried the baking soda and acetone because I have found the monkote heat guns method works SO WELL! Just have some paper towels handy and work in small areas and move along as the oil quits coming out. Heat and then wipe. Go back over troublesome spots several times, and when you don't see any more oil coming out of the mood, move on. When finished, wipe down withy an acetone soaked rag. I make sure to use SIG Stix-It on the treated areas so the new covering holds down better.
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Online kenneth cook

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2021, 06:55:25 AM »
            I've never found any of the methods offered on here to work to a satisfactory level. Of course this is based on my experience.  I've used all of the methods mentioned on this site.  No  method ever proved viable to adhere dope to. While the dope went on, in short order I could see discoloration within the oil soaked areas through the dope and then failure. K2r is a great product for making  you cough your b-lls off even using a mask. It's horrible stuff when initially sprayed on. Yes, you can see when the powder forms that oil is absorbed into it. It takes so much of this stuff not too mention countless hours of trying to iron and soak this stuff out and in the end the balsa doesn't even sand correctly. You never rid the wood of the oil.

         I then tried the acetone and lacquer thinner wash using Klean Strip products which caused the ply to delaminate. Not the plywood itself but the bond to the balsa. I then heated Systems 3 T-88 and let that run into the separation which did glue the ply back onto the wood. I chose T-88 due to it's ability to glue exotic oily hardwoods. However, in the end, the time, the money spent for all of the product I could've built another plane .

               I know the feeling and it's difficult to part with something you really enjoy. In truth, you really have to be committed to a project due to this problem because it's not a easy fix and in the end, the bad outweighs the good and you now have a plane still falling apart.

Online Ken Culbertson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2021, 08:43:36 AM »
In my experience the only thing that effectively treats oil soaked wood is a #11 E-Xacto.   Best, perhaps only, way to avoid oil soaking is to use electric power.

Ken
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Offline Paul Smith

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2021, 05:11:08 PM »
In my experience the only thing that effectively treats oil soaked wood is a #11 E-Xacto.   Best, perhaps only, way to avoid oil soaking is to use electric power.

Ken

Buying a NEW electric motor would be an expensive way to clean-oil soaked wood.  But I will check the dust bins for broken RC toys to see if electric motors really clean oily balsa.  It's worth a try.
Paul Smith

Online Ken Culbertson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2021, 08:51:07 PM »
Buying a NEW electric motor would be an expensive way to clean-oil soaked wood.  But I will check the dust bins for broken RC toys to see if electric motors really clean oily balsa.  It's worth a try. LL~
Doesn't work.  I had an oil soaked OS35 powered Nobler.   I converted it to electric and it became an oil soaked Cobra 2826 powered Nobler.

Ken
« Last Edit: June 23, 2021, 07:56:33 AM by Ken Culbertson »
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Offline BillP

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2021, 06:48:30 AM »
Kr2 worked well for me on a totally saturated nose but I only used monokote over it. The stuff is expensive but a last resort on parts you can't easily cut out and replace. Using a heat gun and paper towels might be a good way to go before using the Kr2 to save some bucks. I tried the acetone and powder metnod and it was a failure.
Bill P.

Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2021, 01:06:27 PM »
    Heat is the best. I tried them all and have chronicled the experience here. They all require work. Some people are looking for that magic pill that does what they want with no work, like a fuel proof paint in a spray can that leaves s 20 point finish behind with no sanding or rubbing and only costs 4.99 a can and is available at any drug store! It is possible to get the oil out of the wood but will take WORK!! Heat works the best because it has some physics working for it. You can see the effects of it as you go along. I have never had a problem going over the treated surfaces with anything. Yes, you can burn your hands if you are not careful, but it is the most positive method and you can see the result as you go. You can spray K2R on , wait the prescribed time, and still have to go over the same area again and again. Heat is must faster.
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Offline Joe Ed Pederson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #10 on: June 24, 2021, 03:11:19 PM »
Perhaps the results and whether it is worth the effort (and expense) depends on just how badly soaked the wood is.

I was given a Fancherized Twister whose Monokote was lifting off in many places, especially on the forward fuselage.   It wasn't terribly soaked but I knew dope wouldn't stick without some oil removal.   I used K2R and corn starch and alcohol (alcohol, I think).  But what made it work was that after I got as much oil out as I could, I painted the nose with a coat of Balsa Rite (the film formula) and had absolutely no issues applying Brodak medium silkspan with dope.  The silkspan was given a few coats of clear and some blue butyrate and the silkspan stayed solidly attached and the dope had no bleed through for a year or more before I finished the Twister off with a third ground impact.

The Balsa Rite is very similar to Sig Stix-it Dan mentioned.   I bought a can of Stix-it from Sig and it is very thick.  I used the Stix-it to make sure the monokote on my Sig Skyray .35 build would stay attached, and to prevent fuel soaking, but it didn't flow out well, so next time I use Stix-it, I'm going to thin it down some. 

Joe Ed Pederson

Offline Allen Eshleman

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2022, 02:59:20 PM »
Though this is an old thread, it's one which I started. I have a Pathfinder ARF that has had some repair - but - a great flying plane.  I have a place that needs covered that is monokote that's very oily even after cleaning and part wood with some king of filler in it.  My last repair came loose during the first flight.  What should I do?

Online Ken Culbertson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2022, 04:05:46 PM »
Though this is an old thread, it's one which I started. I have a Pathfinder ARF that has had some repair - but - a great flying plane.  I have a place that needs covered that is monokote that's very oily even after cleaning and part wood with some king of filler in it.  My last repair came loose during the first flight.  What should I do?
After you use your greatest oil removal techniques on the affected area sand it down about 1/64" and soak it with thin CA.  That will lock up whatever was left. Now use slow cure CA to put sone 1/64" plywood over the area.  Fill any cracks with whatever you use to fill cracks and iron on the MonoKote patch.  Now, spray some clear over the joints.  MonoKote joints are exhaust slime magnets.

Ken
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Offline Allen Eshleman

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2022, 04:24:53 PM »
Thanks Ken, 

My observation tells me that monokote edges are indeed exhaust slime catchers. My problem area is where the exhaust comes out of the tongue muffler. I hope to work on this tomorrow because this plane is my best flyer. 

Online Ken Culbertson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #14 on: July 31, 2022, 04:39:33 PM »
Thanks Ken, 

My observation tells me that monokote edges are indeed exhaust slime catchers. My problem area is where the exhaust comes out of the tongue muffler. I hope to work on this tomorrow because this plane is my best flyer.
Never give up on a plane that flies well. That is a tough spot since the heat will melt the MonoKote adhesive and if there is a joint in the airflow, off it comes.  You might consider a larger piece of monokote so that the heat is not at the seams.  Best solution is an electric motor.  I haven't had an exhaust issue with any of mine. LL~

Ken

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USAF 1968-1974 TAC

Offline Allen Eshleman

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #15 on: July 31, 2022, 05:38:16 PM »
It's on the underside of the wing close to the joint with the fuselage. We did put a big piece of monokote that reached out around the trouble spot. I think we were hasty and didn't clean it off well.  Now I have some ideas which will take time but at least we can try them. I think I said that it is an ARF.  A good friend had it as a practice plane and gave it to me.  It has a Smith tuned LA-46. Today, I flew it just one flight because my audience got bored with just one flight.  But, it felt so good out on the end of the lines and stayed tight with overheads etc. 

Offline Allen Eshleman

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #16 on: July 31, 2022, 05:58:47 PM »
Does spraying K24 work on oil soaked monokote?

Online Ken Culbertson

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Re: Oil removal from oil soaked wood
« Reply #17 on: July 31, 2022, 09:23:07 PM »
It's on the underside of the wing close to the joint with the fuselage. We did put a big piece of monokote that reached out around the trouble spot. I think we were hasty and didn't clean it off well.  Now I have some ideas which will take time but at least we can try them. I think I said that it is an ARF.  A good friend had it as a practice plane and gave it to me.  It has a Smith tuned LA-46. Today, I flew it just one flight because my audience got bored with just one flight.  But, it felt so good out on the end of the lines and stayed tight with overheads etc.
I will bet that doing what you did, only better, will work.  This time thoroughly clean the monokote outside the damaged area and lightly sand it with say 600 grit where the new monokote will go. Then, really push the new stuff down with a booted iron from the center out. Then seal the edges with clear, it is going to stay - for a while.  You will probably have to iron out the wrinkles every now and then.  Don't try and do this with a gun.  It won't seal the edges well enough and if you heat it enough to shrink much, the edges will not be glued down tight.  If you are not overly concerned with the finish, go over the seams with a sealing iron.
You will know you have sealed it when a small amount of glue oozes from the seam.  Wipe it off with an alcohol dampened rag before you paint.

For reasons that have nothing to do with sanity, most of my planes are monokoted from tip-to-tip, nose-to-tail.  This works well for me wherever the covering comes in contact with heat.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of hot places on an electric!

Good luck!  Which ARF is it? - Ken

Ken

Oh, one more afterthought.  On one plane that had a lot of area to fix, I used some Balsa Rite (I think that is the name - a film adhesive) before adding the new monokote.  I rubbed it into the wood to get it in as deep as possible.  Let it dry and added a second coat just before applying the monokote.  Normally, you don't need the extra weight of supplemental glue with monokote.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2022, 09:43:54 PM by Ken Culbertson »
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If it is not broke you are not trying hard enough.
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