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<pre>I have found this online. I haven't tried it and would not recommend
it to anyone. Good olive oil is now readily available everywhere.
Jamal
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Homemade Olive Oil
Recipe by the late W.V. Cruess, Professor of Food Technology at the
College of Agriculture, University of California, Berkeley, CA.

This process only gives about two-thirds as much oil as from a
commercial press. Not bad for homemade. Commercial pressing yields an
average of 1 litre of oil per 5 kilos of olives.

Grate/Simmer/Skim/Extraction. Ordinary lye will be needed. Make up a
solution of 1/2 lb lye per 1 gal. water, using an agate-ware or iron
pot (not aluminum!) A small basket of wire screen such as is used for
making french-fried potatoes will be needed, or a piece of
cheesecloth can be used. Heat the lye solution to boiling and while
it is boiling, dip the olives in it for about 20 seconds. The time
needed will vary with the toughness of the skins. Leave the olives in
the lye until the skins are softened - that is, practically
dissolved. Then plunge them into cold water for a few seconds to stop
the action of the lye. Place the lye-treated olives on a piece of fly
screen tacked to a frame over a large dishpan. Rub them on the screen
until the flesh has seperated from the pits and dropped through the
screen into the pan. A heavy pair of rubber gloves is necessary in
this process to prevent your hands from becoming badly stained and
roughened by the lye and olive juice.

Place the pulp, which should now be of a pasty or mushy consistency,
into a pot with about 2 or 3 times its own volume of water. Heat to
simmering, stirring constantly, for about 1/2 hour. Set it aside for
several days to permit the oil to rise to the surface. Usually a fair
yield of oil can be obtained by skimming it from the surface of the
pulp. The pulp may then be boiled a few minutes with more water and
allowed to stand again. The process should be repeated several
times. The secrets of success are to rub the olive flesh to a fine-
grained pulp and always use a large excess of water with the pulp.
The yield of oil is also sometimes increased by adding about 1/4 lb.
salt per gallon of water used with the pulp. The oil you obtain will
be bitter and unclear.

Clearing the oil. Strain the oil through several layers of
cheesecloth into glass containers. Let it settle a couple weeks. Then
siphon the oil off the top, stopping before you get near the
sediment. (Plastic tubing works well). Strain again, settle again,
siphon again. Five such cycles will give you quality oil. Now pour
into sterile jars. (don't heat), and add lids or cork to seal.
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