Bleeching wood spokes what have you used.

[Durant Mike]

I've taken my wheels apart and stripped all the old paint off them. There was two coats, one green the original and one black the last restoration. The spokes are Hickory of course and it took several coats of stripper to get the paint off then a scrubbing with a parts brush and clean stripper to get it clean. Whatever type of black paint that was on there seemed to act like a stain when it was stripped. My questions is that there seems to be still some remnants of black in some of the grain and pores of the wood. I want to get them so I can stain them and refinish them with a good marine varnish. I've looked on the Internet and there seems to be a number of wood bleaches on the market. Some are chlorine based and there are some home remedies. I just tried a diluted solution of pool bleach but it did not seem to lighten anything. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to bleach this wood so I can finish the spokes. I know Hickory looks good as a wood and left natural, but I don't think I can do that with the stains.

[nickelroadster]

If it is black paint that is still in the grain then bleach is not going to do the trick. I would work on it a little more and scrub it with more stripper and a wire brush and you can also lightly sand with 100 to 150 grit sandpaper. Even if it is a stain bleach may not be the way to go. You can also try oxalic acid from a hardware store. household ammonia also works sometime. Never combine chlorine with ammonia so make surre you have nuetraliised the chlorine before using any ammonia.

[Restorer32]

I'm betting that the black stains you are seeing are not paint but rather water stains. If they are indeed water stains oxalic acid from the hardware store is your best bet. Wet the stained areas with the oxalic acid solution and let stand in the sun. Repeat until the stains lighten. It may take 20 applications of oxalic acid and sunlight to eliminate the stains. If they are in fact remnants of paint you're on your own. Try scrapng the spokes with a piece of broken glass.

[KenHupp20]

I use a cabinetmaker's scraper to get down to good clean wood. Have your file handy, it will need to be sharpened often. You can also make your own from an old hand saw blade.

Ken

[Durant Mike]

Thanks guys for your suggestions. I'll try the Oxalic Acid next to see what happens and will keep working with them. Will keep you posted on what works for me.

[Guest Rousifier]

When you do final sanding, wear a respirator. Oxalic acid crystals are dangerous. Occurs when solution is allowed to dry on the wood; if properly neutralized and wahed off thoroughly, would be fine. I would still wear a mask when sanding.

[Durant Mike]

Just an update for everyone. Oxalic Acid or regular bleach did not work. I just had to start sanding them. I'm using an oscillating up and down sander and it's working fine as long as you keep the spoke moving and be very careful not to sand any flat spot int he spoke. I'm starting with 120 grit and then finishing with 220 prior to staining. Ordered Epithane marine varnish and will put on about 5 coats of that. I'll let everyone know how they came out.

[keiser31]

I back-scraped with a broken piece of glass and the old paint came right off of my '31 DB wood spokes. I was sort of afraid to actually try to sand them all off and have them come out uneven and impregnated with grit. Of course, I was 15 at the time. What did I know?