A restoration shop,,of some note,,I worked in had a set up made to de-grease wood. It was made up to be able to place gun stocks in and be able to draw the excess oil out of them that so often is in place inside them.
It was made to work Fast. That was the key.
The usual method(s) were just too slow for them.
This rig looked dangerous and as it turned out it was ,,very dangerous.
When I first saw it, I saw an elec heating coil of a rather large dia inside of a tube of sheet steel all setting in a verticle position. A couple of hoses and fittings on the outside. A electrical connection. All setting inside of a tray of sorts seeming to catch any 'dripping' of the said oil from the wood.
Standing right next to this contraption was a large industrial container of
tetrachloroethylene .
In bold letters on the lid of the 5 or 6 gallon container and on the side it said something about heat and phosgene gas.
That caught my attention.
Just the fact that it was Trichlorethelyne has as well
I read it more carefully. Not being a chemist type but being able to understand basic English, I knew that a wooden gun stock soaked in the trichlor should not be sitting inside the heating element to 'burn off' the solvent and draw out the oil as I had been told,,
"that's how the neat little machine works!,,it'll be you job to take care of those stocks"
Not today,,not ever!
That was an interesting if not dangerous place to work.
FWIW..another concern was 'What is that bad smell when I walk into the back workshop area in the morning?
Nothing to be concerned about I was told, someone spilled a couple bottles of deer lure scent in the archery dept and the the it's cleaned up but a little of the smell still comes back over nite. Open the doors and it's gone in 1/2 hr or so.
What it actually was... a 6" rotted out section in the propane line inside the building coming from the huge outside storage tank.
The line had rusted and rotted away from the storage of assorted containers of acid under a bench in a room used for rust bluing.
Those bottles of acid were right directly under that gas line within inches.
Right above and to the left of the open line was a rust blue water tank. feeding off that line.
How I never blew myself (I did the rust bluing) or that entire shop to pieces is beyond me.
Good thing I never lit up that tank early.
I can tell you I became a Believer after that .
Be careful with chemicals and stuff.
Guns don't have to be squeeky clean to work..
