I've got this oil lamp that used to run on kerosene / lamp oil. I stopped using it indoors because of the strong smell. Hopefully your sunflower seed oil doesn't come out tasting like kerosene! I'm searching for a wick that works properly with olive oil, but haven't found it yet.

Be careful with the expeller screw. It looks like it is the hardest to make and most expensive part of the whole device. I expect it to be designed so that the bolt locking the handle to the screw shears off before the screw itself comes to harm if you overstress it. Don't be tempted to replace the bolt with a higher grade one or fit a bigger handle.

Is there a small radius where the thin part of the screw meets the thick part? (where you put the washer on) If not, that is a place where it could to break because of stress concentration. Additionally I don't think you should lean on the lever because that would impart a bending moment as well as a torque on the axis.

I'll definitely just do a short test run with the kerosene --- if it gives any flavor to the oil, that's a deal breaker. I have read that the impurities in kerosene make it smoke more, so I might have to hunt down some real lamp oil.

Thanks for those tips about the expeller screw! It shoulds like I'll have to be very careful. Mark was talking about maybe trying to hook an electric motor up to it to crank out more oil if we ever need a bigger quantity, but that might be a bad idea given what you've said.

I'm not sure I quite understand what you're asking when you ask "Is there a small radius where the thin part of the screw meets the thick part?" What do you mean by a small radius?

Standard simple design practice would be to take the maximum expected static load, multiply that by three, and design so that all parts just can handle that load. I do not know what the maximum resistance of the nuts in the screw would be, but IMO the worst case would be a jammed screw where you would have a person leaning with his full weight on the handle which would be in a horizontal position. So a cautious designer would design for three times that load, people being what they are. Now I haven't done the math, but it doesn't look that sturdy to me. But I could be wrong.

OTOH, they could have sized the bolt that connects the handle end to the handle to shear off before the expensive screw can be damaged. That's what us engineers call a controlled failure mode.

You could put on a electric motor drive, but you'd have to think that through. If the motor can generate much more torque and power than a human (which most easily can) you could break the expeller. Or the motor, depending on which type you'd use.

Where the face on the screw that the lubricated washer sits on (your top-right picture) meets the handle end of the screw, there should be a small fillet between the face and the handle end.

The reason for that is found in solid mechanics. When you are turning the screw you are applying both a torque and a bending moment to the handle end. Now for both torque and bending loads, the stresses that these cause in the material of the screw are greatest at the surface of the material. Now where the handle end meets the thicker part of the screw, the stresses "flow" from the handle end into the thick part. Because these stresses have to go around a corner, they tend to concentrate themselves. And the sharper the corner, the bigger the concentration. If the concentrated stres becomes higher than the proportional limit of the steel it will yield. Wether that results in a bent shaft or a broken one depends on the kind of steel used and the treatment it has had.

So the fillet serves to reduce stress concentrations.

Normally food processing equipment is made exlusively from stainless steel since it is corrosion resistent and has antibacterial properties. The screw looks like it might be stainless, but it might also be simply chrome plated. The rest of the machine probably isn't since it has been painted, and the tread on the end of the press cage looks like an oxidised brown color in your pictures.

IIRC, vegetable oils are made up of weak acids, which might corrode the non-stainless parts of the machine over time even though it will not rust because of the oil. I'm curious as to how the oil will taste and how the machine will hold up.

I was looking into purchasing 1 maybe 2 of these expellers and I was just wondering how yours is holding up and if you have been happy with it

thanks for your help

Tammy --- I'm ashamed to say, we've only used it a few times. We were very unhappy with the smoky result from using kerosene to heat the expeller. Since we don't have a source for quality (ie non-smoky) lamp oil locally, Mark has tried some electric heating options, but no good results yet.

Keep in mind this is all due to us not following manufacturer's instructions, though! If you have a place to buy lamp oil near you, you might have better results.

you can also order the oil on Ace Hardware's website and have it shipped to your home pretty reasonable.

Remember to go through shop at home to earn a percentage back on your purchase http://www.shopathome.com/?IAFCG=3+9+LgkohiLau+7LiJiS+w==

I was hoping that you have gotten your ultra pure smokeless lamp oil from amazon and hooked up a motor. It's fun to see the guys running their cars on this biodiesel, power to the mighty plants!

first off, I agree that European standards are more to my liking. Besides that, I am very aware that piteba is the guy who developed the idea. He is kind enough to share it with those who need it. I am sure that I want to support him and I believe that he is the one who evolves this project.

I am interested in putting a motor on mine. I could also put a bicycle sprocket on it and get some exercise!

Mark, before you retire this project, try the black sesame oil. Oh man. I love it so much that I want to just live on it, why not do that easily?

I would love any help you might offer about motorizing it. I am using a bicycle chain drive and a treadmill motor but I haven't gotten it together yet

Using Oil Expellers Manufactured by Gobind Expeller Company. Quite easy to install and good performance.