Fuel soaked balsa

What if any is the best way to try and dry out fuel soaked balsa?

K2R

They showed a new product on "Two Guys Garage" this weekend, a clear liquid for taking oil, antifreeze and grease off concrete floors. It looked ideal. Pour it on, let it dry, brush it off. Said to be ok to paint over. I know you're in OZ, but you might check around for similar products. Steve

Paul - make up a mixture of methanol (or isopropyl) and talcum powder to a consistancy where it will just barely pour. Brush it on to the fuel soaked balsa - lay it on very thick and heavy. When it's totally dry, brush and blow it off. If really soaked, you may have to repeat a few times. This is the best method I've ever used. It will not affect paint or adhesive.
Bob Z.

I can't find K2R anymore and I hear it has been banned by EPA. Figures. Try denatured alcohol and talcum mixed into a slurry. It will take several tries. Once it looks "dry", try doping a small area with clear and see if it stays. A little castor left in the balsa will mix with the clear, just like mixing them to plastisize the clear. I highly suggest cutting out as much of the soaked balsa as possible, if possible. Sometimes it's quicker than trying to absorb the oil, but I also realize that there are places where this is not an option. With my many inverted mishaps, I'm getting good at this. Never ceases to amaze me as to where that oil will go.

Cornstarch is even more absorbant than Talc. Repeated applications will wick oil out of wood.

FWIW

Curt

PS: It also works to dry-clean Old English Sheepdogs.

Arm & Hammer is a low cost alternative. Currell

Curt - if you use the right alcohol, the sheepdogs are clean and happy!
Bob Z.

Hi Bob:

I learned the Sheepdog trick at the national specialty show at Trenton quite a few years ago.

After grooming one of these dogs, you just WISH all you had to worry about was oil-soaked balsa!

Hi Curt,
For some odd reason, I can see you with English Sheep dogs.
I prefer Boxers and English Bulldogs.
Bill <><

Yep.."the kind of head a man can wipe a boot on"

captcurt,

Is the cornstarch applied dry or mixed with alcohol? I have an Ambroid Ares that had a leaky tank in it and needs this treatment....Thanks...........................

I have always used it dry. I know talc is inert in the solvents but since the cornstarch is organic, I'm not sure what it does in solvent.

I just put a tablespoon or so on the area, scrub it in with a stiff paint brush--like a chip brush (take a throw-away brush and clip the bristles in half) and let it sit overnite. Vacuum the remains out and re-apply. When it comes out dry, dope over the area.

Pretty much the same process as with the talc or K2R.

the fine powder wicks the oil out of the wood.

Along this vein, I used naptha (lighter fluid) and talc. I have a gallon I got at Wal Mart some time ago. Very cheap, and it worked well on the nose/cowling of my old T-Bird II.
As Ty says, if you can get the majority of the oil out, clear dope will mix with it since castor oil was used in dope for a plastisizer in years past.
Bill <><

I liked the one sugestion from a thread on this subject some time ago. Get a big box, insert airplane, fill with kitty litter.. I haven't tried this yet but think it would work great.

Fill a quart cottage cheese container half full of laquer thinner, insert nose of airplane, top off. After 3 days, scrub the goo that's come out, dry, change thinner, go 3 more days. The owner thought his 1971 Chipmunk was a goner, but after treatment, a new firewall, and some epoxy, its 100 percent. Don

Anybody ever tried diatomaceous earth? That's kitty litter or oil sorb to you non techies. I have some in powdered form but haven't tried it yet.

Uh, that is made up of diatoms, sea creatures and turns into wall board or plaster (gypsum), not kitty litter. They mine the stuff outside my home town. US Gypsum. They also make kitty litter a few miles farther out and it is made from clay, gray, soft, smooth like talc, only clay.. Very slippery when wet. You should have seen my Ford Model A one afternnon after the rain and some off orad stuff. circa 1957.

I got most of the oil out of my igNoblarf nose and belly using a method I read here a while back. I think it came from Walter Umland. Use paper towels and your covering iron. Repeat lots. The wood still has a slightly greasy feel to it though. I'll have to try the solvent slurry and next. Hope to get a thin sealer coat of epoxy to stick when I am done....

Thanks guy's,some good idea's.Thats what makes this forum great.

this is a wee bit off of the subject, but still deals with an oily subject. any of y'all ever used cheesecloth to wipe you bird down at the end of the day? i used some out of desparation a few years ago and it works beautifully....only problem is that it snags on control horns, LG, wheel collars, etc.

>What if any is the best way to try and dry out fuel soaked
>balsa?
funny this should come up....i know most of you never heard of me....but u must have heard of my famous airplane.... th stuka stunt...any way i recently ran into this problem it seems that fuel got in under th monocote covering ... when i removed th covering ...wallah!! ..greezy balsa wood (yuk)... i usta use white gas in th old days(coleman camping fluid...same thing) ...but i found something that really works better!! ... MEK ..(methyl ethyl ketone)...it leaves no residue either...but be careful...itll melt most glue too!! ..i just used an old wash cloth soaked with mek and washed it till it came clean ...when it dried th wood was dry...of course it raises th grain so ull hafta re sand it... it worked for me...jimmy ivey ama15452 (old timer)

Jim,

Isnt MEK one of those chemicals that causes cancer? I always thought it was but I'm not sure.

I use MEK alot at home, wear chem gloves and use in a ventilated area, and you will have no problems. I work with alot of old timers that use MEK everyday, and they suffer zero health problems. And, I am not 100% sure, but I think the hardware store MEK is less...harmful? potent?,(except in California) than the industrial stuff. Just use caution, and MEK can be your best friend.