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Report - - Oilite Bearings, Ipswich - June 2011 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Oilite Bearings, Ipswich - June 2011

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RaymondKHessel

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Explored with jasoneastanglia.

After failing to get into British Xylonite and a relatively brief wander around Shotley Gate we decided to head for Oilite Bearings in Ipswich. By the end of the day I was actually pretty glad we got kicked out of British Xylonite (a site I have explored before) since it gave us plenty of time to thoroughly explore Oilite Bearings.

History

I've been unable to find a large amount of information or history about the site however it seemed to increasingly closed down from 2003 onwards and was almost completely dormant by 2006. The company manufactured anti-friction bearings of the 'oilite' variety. Oilite is a bronze or iron alloy which has been 'impregnated' with lubricant, so essentially the bearings are self-lubricating. They are manufactured via the sintering process (the making of metals from base powders) and as a result the metal products are covered in tiny pores, these are then used to retain the lubricant.

The Explore

Oilite Bearings offers a nice variety of environments. Obviously there are plenty of industrial buildings, warehouses and production floors etc, most of which appear to be stripped of machinery. However there are also pretty extensive office and administration space. The medical building and laboratory also provides a nice bit of variety to the mostly industrial backdrop. Generally the site has been well-trashed, kids have set up a makeshift skatepark in one building, there are signs of metal thievery and arson (in fact we may have ran into a metal thief during our explore, either that or just someone keen to avoid us) but there is still plenty to see. The medical building for example, which apparently was only opened relatively recently is in pretty good condition and full of old paperwork and bits and pieces. Definitely worth a look around if you're in the area and have some time to spare. I think we saw pretty much the whole site in about 3-4 hours.

Big thanks to jasoneastanglia for showing me around and generally driving me around Suffolk all day. Really appreciate it :thumb

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Thanks for looking.
 
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