To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Freshening up oil and grease soaked workbench

T

TheClaw

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
529
Location
Chicagoland
I picked up this Uline workbench off Marketplace. The top is solid except it's soaked with oil and grease. I've cleaned off workbenches before with bleach and a power washer and they've turned out okay. Wondering if there's any other ways to spruce this up without sanding it all the way through?

Yes, I thought about just flipping it over except all the holes are on the bottom. Yeah, I could put some wood putty in there and drill new holes on the other side, I was just hoping to see if I could salvage the topside.

4395.jpg
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
M

MovingAlong

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
1,193
There's a layer to be removed: chemical stripper, pressure washer, hand planer, sanding...

I'd be tempted to plane it with something inexpensive like this:

1772573346932.png

*note, I've not actually done this myself, but have seen positive results from others.
 
G

geneg

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
465
Location
Midwest
TheClaw said:
I picked up this Uline workbench off Marketplace. The top is solid except it's soaked with oil and grease. I've cleaned off workbenches before with bleach and a power washer and they've turned out okay. Wondering if there's any other ways to spruce this up without sanding it all the way through?

Yes, I thought about just flipping it over except all the holes are on the bottom. Yeah, I could put some wood putty in there and drill new holes on the other side, I was just hoping to see if I could salvage the topside.

4395.jpg
Click to expand...
I don't think it looks that bad. I'd probably hit it with 100 grit random orbital. Wipe it down & give it boiled linseed oil to the point of refusal. Too much time & trouble to making it "new" just to use it as a workbench. The patched holes would bug me, so I wouldn't turn it over.

Use some Watco with color to blend the shades in lieu of the BLO.
 
G

geneg

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
465
Location
Midwest
geneg said:
I don't think it looks that bad. I'd probably hit it with 100 grit random orbital. Wipe it down & give it boiled linseed oil to the point of refusal. Too much time & trouble to making it "new" just to use it as a workbench. The patched holes would bug me, so I wouldn't turn it over.

Use some Watco with color to blend the shades in lieu of the BLO.
Click to expand...
Another approach is to brush in some cheap finish. Let it dry/cure. Then use stripper to pull some of the color & oil out of the pores. You'll still need to sand some & apply some protection---BLO or Watco
 
O

oldmachinenut

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 3, 2009
Messages
2,511
Location
Missing, presumed dead in central Pa.
www.instructables.com

How to Make a Router Sled to Flatten Slabs

How to Make a Router Sled to Flatten Slabs: Hi! I'm Matt. Follow along as I make a router sled/slab flattening mill. This is a great way to flatten work pieces that are too large to fit in a standard planer, drum sander or benchtop CNC. With just 1/2 sheet of plywood and my router, I was able…
www.instructables.com www.instructables.com
 
B

BurtEggley

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2024
Messages
849
wipe it down with some solvent on a rag and let it dry. Then sand it and see how it looks. Staining it might help as some suggested. Then seal.
 
J

JohnX14

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
548
Location
Boston 'burbs
How deep has the oil seeped? I've leave it as-is or flip it over. I don't know how you extract oil and stains that have soaked into hardwood. I'd rub more oil on it and call it character, depending on what my intended use was.
 
H

Higgins

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 25, 2009
Messages
1,924
Location
Shepheardsville, KY
TheClaw said:
I picked up this Uline workbench off Marketplace. The top is solid except it's soaked with oil and grease. I've cleaned off workbenches before with bleach and a power washer and they've turned out okay. Wondering if there's any other ways to spruce this up without sanding it all the way through?

Yes, I thought about just flipping it over except all the holes are on the bottom. Yeah, I could put some wood putty in there and drill new holes on the other side, I was just hoping to see if I could salvage the topside.

4395.jpg
Click to expand...
I got the same project ahead of me. The top is from a company that produced "Stuff" for the millitary in the 40.

Sold the old legs to a friend. Couldn't believe what the were worth!! Old guys were drooling over them....
I'm going to see how clean the top will clean up!
Actually the ole top looks looks neat! Has a lot of character! Will see how the surface looks after some sanding, and see how an oil finish looks!
 
OP
T

TheClaw

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
529
Location
Chicagoland
geneg said:
I don't think it looks that bad. I'd probably hit it with 100 grit random orbital. Wipe it down & give it boiled linseed oil to the point of refusal. Too much time & trouble to making it "new" just to use it as a workbench. The patched holes would bug me, so I wouldn't turn it over.

Use some Watco with color to blend the shades in lieu of the BLO.
Click to expand...

It's looking that way. I hit it with some 80 grit on a couple of test spots and I think it'll clean up pretty easily. Stay tuned
 
T

Torque&Recoil

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2015
Messages
424
Location
NE Ohio
I have successfully used heat and K2R to pull oil out of old milsurp gun stocks. You heat the wood with a heat gun, then apply K2R. The oil gets absorbed by the powder in the K2R. Admittedly, it would take several cans to do a workbench.
 
F

four.cycle

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
28,499
Location
Tacoma, Washington
FWIW:
The shelving in my garage was salvaged out of our old plant. It's all 2 x 4, 2 x 6, and 2 x 8 dimensional lumber. (NOT pressure treated.)
When we moved the plant to a different location, the owner said I could have the old shelving, but I had to tear it down myself on a Sunday and haul it all out.
I hauled it all home and stacked it up outside and let the rain fall on it for a few months.
The shelves had been used to hold engine cores, so they were well-soaked with engine blood and grease and gick. Mostly black.
I laid them all out flat in a neat row.
Then I boiled about 8 gallons of water, put that into my washtub, added about a pound of trisodium-phosphate and a gallon of bleach, and went at them with a wet mop. When I got them scrubbed down as best I could, I hosed them all off with a garden hose.
After drying for a couple weeks, I stained them with the darkest oil-based Olympic stain I could find.
They look great!
YMMV
 

Attachments

  • shelf1.jpg
    shelf1.jpg
    531.3 KB · Views: 48
  • shelf2.jpg
    shelf2.jpg
    800 KB · Views: 50
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
B

BurtEggley

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2024
Messages
849
yes. When you are done I can come by and pick it up. Thanks for sanding it for me. Absolutely will look gorgeous in my garage. :)

You will be really happy with it.
 
N

NUTTSGT

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
50,856
Location
Northern Central Ohio
Looks good...as crazy as it sounds, I was going to suggest staying away from trying to wash, power wash or an excessive amount of water.

I had several sections of tops like that. I took everything out of the garage to pour a new floor and had them stacked up outside beside the wood pile...we got rain I wasn't expecting while I was at work, I believe, and needless to say I was not happy.. Every one of them started to warp and split apart. I should have covered them but I failed to.

I was just starting the Garage Refurb and did not have time to spend hours on them...
 
A

abfish

Active member
Joined
Sep 20, 2024
Messages
39
Excellent results. That's why old school hardwood floors last so long; it doesn't take that much effort to bring them back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom