Disposing of waste oil - Popular Science

[Ashful]

My grandparents' generation of our family had a lot of farmers, and I remember stories of them sleeping on a porch or rooms with no windows, and talking about having to shake the snow off their blankets in the mornings. Closest I can relate is living in an old Victorian, and sleeping on the 3rd floor with no heat. I kept an ice scraper on the windowsill behind my bed, so I could scrape the window to see out in the morning. It would freeze up with our breath overnight.

I'm familiar with babbit, flat belt, and link belt machines, used to have a whole shop full of them. In fact I still have one bandsaw (Crescent 32") with oil wells cast into the babbit housing, total loss lubrication. Fill the wells each morning, before firing it up. My 1903 tablesaw had a combination of glass vial oilers and threaded grease cups, only slightly more advanced. You can't call yourself a old-school machinist until you've poured and scraped a few babbit bearings!

I also remember a coworker who grew up in Levittown (Bucks County PA version) in the 1950's, and would talk about chasing the DDT truck on their bicycles, when it came thru the town spraying mosquitos in summer. Sheesh!

 

[ABMax24]

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we do some work in the Ft. McMurray oilsands, probably the worlds largest natural oil spill. It's literally everywhere. A client we were working for wanted spill containment under the engine and transmissions of all our trucks every time they were parked in case they dripped oil off the engine or transmissions. There's billions of barrels of oil in the dirt up there, they've literally made hundreds of billions of dollars extracting that oil and they were worried about a couple extra drops.

 

[Eman85]

As well as burning plastic trash.

Unfortunately, very common in my area also.

 

[SpaceBus]

I have popular mechanics magazines from the 20s, and several bird digests from the 40s (yah birdies). Lots of lovely ideas on how too's and DDT. Dilution was the solution, my little bit won't matter, where else are you going to go with it. Think of the equipment at the time. Babbit, bronze and wood bearings, flat link chains, cork gaskets, with other materials barely above raw iron. There was oil all over and everywhere. Rural electrification, the very first thing to run electric to were lights, the vacuum pump for the milkers, and an outlet for a cloths washer, that's it, a couple screw in fuses and knob and tube. And in 1963, the kids coming up had parents and grandparents soaking in all of this. It's a stretch to apply todays values, they have no bearing whatsoever. Today, huh, deeply rural areas are still there, or close to it. Urban areas have enjoyed utility and opportunity. I remember in college in the 80's talking

A friend of mine born in the late 50's has told me stories about chasing the DDT truck to smell the vapors. Also a machinist and welder by trade!

 

[joop]

i like pouring in the river,looks pretty.throw in enough tires and you have a mini waterfall,fish love it

 

[peakbagger]

BTW, DDT is still produced in the third world and used for mosquito control. Its just used differently, soaking bed nets and spraying building interiors in far less quantities.

 

[woodgeek]

Random fact: When you put dressing (vinegar + oil) on salad, the salad immediately starts to wilt. Most people assume its the vinegar that does it (being acidic), but in fact it is the (non-toxic) oil. The oil dissolves the waxy cuticle on leaves that keeps moisture in, so they wilt pretty fast.

So, I could speculate that 'nothing growing there' and 'keeping the weeds down' does not necessarily mean motor oil is highly toxic, or such to animal life.

Someone want to pour a half gallon of EVOO along their fence lines and report back?

I would bet that the folks putting their oil into the ground were thinking 'Hey, it came OUT of the ground in the first place, I'm just putting it back!'

 

[RockCastile]

'Hey, it came OUT of the ground in the first place, I'm just putting it back!'

We laugh, but the joke's on us, and the fantasy that we could forever send unlimited quantities of toxins down the supply chain and then expect 7 billion+ individual consumers to all do the right thing and shoulder the responsibility of not allowing gravity to put it back where we found it.

 

[weee123]

My grandparents' generation of our family had a lot of farmers, and I remember stories of them sleeping on a porch or rooms with no windows, and talking about having to shake the snow off their blankets in the mornings. Closest I can relate is living in an old Victorian, and sleeping on the 3rd floor with no heat. I kept an ice scraper on the windowsill behind my bed, so I could scrape the window to see out in the morning. It would freeze up with our breath overnight.

I'm familiar with babbit, flat belt, and link belt machines, used to have a whole shop full of them. In fact I still have one bandsaw (Crescent 32") with oil wells cast into the babbit housing, total loss lubrication. Fill the wells each morning, before firing it up. My 1903 tablesaw had a combination of glass vial oilers and threaded grease cups, only slightly more advanced. You can't call yourself a old-school machinist until you've poured and scraped a few babbit bearings!

I also remember a coworker who grew up in Levittown (Bucks County PA version) in the 1950's, and would talk about chasing the DDT truck on their bicycles, when it came thru the town spraying mosquitos in summer. Sheesh!

I’ve got an old Excelcior power hacksaw that runs on a total loss lube system. Thing runs like an absolute champ. My first foray into old equipment like that and was amused at the old school oiling caps instead of the zerk fittings I’m used to.

 

[Ashful]

I’ve got an old Excelcior power hacksaw that runs on a total loss lube system. Thing runs like an absolute champ. My first foray into old equipment like that and was amused at the old school oiling caps instead of the zerk fittings I’m used to.

Made at the Royersford Foundry, like the Excelsior drill presses? Those things are absolute works of art.

 

[SpaceBus]

Random fact: When you put dressing (vinegar + oil) on salad, the salad immediately starts to wilt. Most people assume its the vinegar that does it (being acidic), but in fact it is the (non-toxic) oil. The oil dissolves the waxy cuticle on leaves that keeps moisture in, so they wilt pretty fast.

So, I could speculate that 'nothing growing there' and 'keeping the weeds down' does not necessarily mean motor oil is highly toxic, or such to animal life.

Someone want to pour a half gallon of EVOO along their fence lines and report back?

I would bet that the folks putting their oil into the ground were thinking 'Hey, it came OUT of the ground in the first place, I'm just putting it back!'

I could try canola oil.

 

[Highbeam]

Do our chainsaws lube the bar with a “total loss” system?

 

[fbelec]

Do our chainsaws lube the bar with a “total loss” system?

not that it's right but we get it all over the log and some chips then we burn it. seems to me we are putting more pollution in the air than we think

 

[fbelec]

makes me think how it treats the cat converter

 

[peakbagger]

Plenty of government agencies and non profits uses canola oil for bar oil. It goes well in a salad with some vinegar Someone who uses their wood for smoking might not want to use standard bar oil due to possible off tastes and contaminants, but smoking food is inherently forming carcinogenic PAHs so its someone's choice of poison. Clean light oil used for bar oil doesnt really impact a cat, it's the metallic additives that might be in there that can bind to the active catalyst that are the issues. Even wood has some trace mineral and metallic ash in it that can eventually clog a cat, usually cat life is race to match active catalyst life with thermal degration of the media the catalyst is bonded to.

The biggest issue with bar oil used to be that much of it was made from waste oil from unknown sources that could be contaminated. My guess is its probably less of an issue these days but not sure if its regulated.

 

[weee123]

Made at the Royersford Foundry, like the Excelsior drill presses? Those things are absolute works of art.

Yes it was! I found the old manual online and that helped a lot in setting it up to run properly. The previous guy had the motor wired up backwards so it wasn’t cutting properly and skipping. Rewired it and flipped the blade and it runs smooth as silk now.

 

[weee123]

Do our chainsaws lube the bar with a “total loss” system?

Ahh that’s a fair point! That didn’t even cross my mind

 

[Ashful]

... it's the metallic additives that might be in there that can bind to the active catalyst that are the issues. Even wood has some trace mineral and metallic ash in it that can eventually clog a cat, usually cat life is race to match active catalyst life with thermal degration of the media the catalyst is bonded to.

While all technically possible and/or true, I wouldn't expect there's enough of anything in the fleetingly-small amount of bar oil that actually gets onto your firewood, and remains there after 3 years of seasoning out in the weather, to have any real and measurable accumulation or effect on the lifespan of a catalytic combustor. We measure our combustor lifespan in years, a pretty coarse unit of measure, compared to the likely impact of these factors you're discussing.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Well, there are various crosscut saws of different styles… lots of folks say it’s a life style and gym membership. Time to make it a CrossFit, Wood burner lifestyle!

 

[weee123]

I actually looked at getting a crosscut a while back just for teehee’s and haha’s. It seems good ones are around $300. Always wanted to get a vintage one just as a wall hanger

 

[EatenByLimestone]

They’re around! Look in rural areas, estate sales and such.

When sharp, they’ll cut surprisingly fast!

 

[Ashful]

I actually looked at getting a crosscut a while back just for teehee’s and haha’s. It seems good ones are around $300. Always wanted to get a vintage one just as a wall hanger

I've got a few, a benefit of my family living in the same neighborhood for more than 300 years, things get passed down. The bow saws were stolen years ago, but I still have one very large one-man crosscut, as well as a two-man job. Never had a second man with enough coordination or timing to make the two-man work well, tho.

 

[Fred B. NJ]

Can't believe some pour it in the ground. I live in rural NJ and my town takes it at the local recycling center. Also most gas stations that still repair cars will take it where it's recycled.

I remember the days, decades ago, when it was time to drain and replace the antifreeze. Stick the nose of the car at the end of the driveway and open the petcock. Let the water run out to the storm sewer. But that was a long time ago, and when I lived in a town with sewers. Now it's well and septic. You don't want to contaminate your own water.

 

[begreen]

They’re around! Look in rural areas, estate sales and such.

When sharp, they’ll cut surprisingly fast!

We built this bridge up in the wilderness using 2 man saws for the main sleepers. We were lucky to have a professional sawyer on the crew who had just the right blades for the job and knew how to keep them sharp. We sawed through 18" high-altitude spruce with dense grain in about 5-10 minutes.
This is on the PCT. It is currently threatened by the Blue Lake fire. I am relieved to note that the firefighters wrapped the whole bridge in protective foil. Hopefully, the fire won't get down to the bridge but it's good to know it has some protection in case it does.

 

[Ashful]

I remember the days, decades ago, when it was time to drain and replace the antifreeze. Stick the nose of the car at the end of the driveway and open the petcock. Let the water run out to the storm sewer. But that was a long time ago, and when I lived in a town with sewers. Now it's well and septic. You don't want to contaminate your own water.

While I don't dump oil, I do still put my antifreeze right down the sink drain, and we have septic. What should I be doing with it?

My oil goes to someone who burns it in a waste oil heater for their shop.