Wood steering wheel restoration

[Straight Time]

Hi,

Looking at restoring my speedwell steering wheel . Has a few battlescars and cracks. Splits near the spokes. Have had advice to inject glue into the cracks and clamp down till dry. Then use wood filler before stain and varnish. 

But first,  how best to remove the existing varnish . Would rather not use chemicals if I can.

Any advice welcome.

[restojohnny]

I use gorilla wood glue and clamp it down then sand with 220 to take off the peeling varnish on it then do the stain and polyurethane.

[Straight Time]

Thanks for reply.  220 it is then. Though the varnish / polyurethane is pretty thick. Here's to sore fingers  .

[danny gabbard]

Save the wood powder from sanding and mix with clear glue for filling any cracks

[vwhelmot]

I used nitromors to strip the varnish off my flat 4 wheel. No problems.

[Straight Time]

Thought about that but thought it maybe too harsh. Doing a bit more research some guy's recommended using new sharp Stanley knife blades at a right angle to scrape back to wood.

[vwhelmot]

You wont damage the wood with stripper.  Slap it on!

[restojohnny]

the wood on the speedwell wheel is old and will have areas where the stripper will get into (crack's etc..) and will be very hard to get out and when you apply the polyurethane to it the stripper in the wood that did not get removed will bubble the urethane. Much safer on an old wheel to sand in my opinion. The wood on a flat 4 wheel is compressed more than the wood back in the day especially on a speedwell wheel from experience the wood on those old wheels seem softer and absorb ALOT more chemicals than the new wood steering wheels.

[56BLITZ]

So, the wheel I have might be an older one . . . the varnish is all but gone . . . that left the wood exposed and it is now dirty and stained . . . even where it split.
I am considering giving it a bath in oxalic acid with this stuff http://www.thompsonswaterseal.com/waterproofing-products/cleaners/3-in-1-wood-cleaner
YES or NO?

[Straight Time]

restojohnny,  great advice,  thank you!

[gibber!]

I've never restored a wooden steering wheel, but when I repaired some damage to my (expensive) wooden workshop doors I mixed the saw dust from the same wood with the varnish I was gonna use on the doors. My thinking behind this was that if I used wood glue to bind the the saw dust as filler the varnish wouldn't soak into the repaired area the same as it would the rest of the door.
I was very pleased with the result, maybe it's worth a trial run to see if it makes a difference for you.

[lawrence]

My thinking behind this was that if I used wood glue to bind the the saw dust as filler the varnish wouldn't soak into the repaired area the same as it would the rest of the door.

Absolutely true. This happened to a table that I built from scratch.

[Straight Time]

Gibber!, did you only use this mixture ( varnish and wood dust) on the areas that were damaged ?

Also, going to use marine varnish.  Any advice on what to use to sand between coats?  Someone suggested very fine wire wool, but would this not leave residue of wool behind?

Also trying to decide on a wood stain colour. As always,  advice welcome

[danny gabbard]

When refinishing wood ! After all sanding is done , Blow out all the grain for any saw dust , wipe down with damp cloth and let dry , Then seal up wood with sanding sealer -Helps seal up the grain and air pockets . Like label said , sanding sealer ! sand with 220 and get semi flat from sanding . Then recoat with sanding sealer and sand with 320 . Now you have a good base to topcoat . I would use some kind of automotive clear to spray .

[Straight Time]

Thanks Danny