removing stain/colour of old OAK beams

[etaf]

Hi
I have a large number of oak beams in our lounge which are structural and support ceiling and building.

a few day ago I took down a shelf over the fire made of the same material and same colour and sanded down to reveal the lighter colour - there are a lot of machine marksl, and so not completely back to raw wood - but sufficient to now look more appealing lighter and added a bit of boiled linseed oil and looks great (IMO & importantly wifes) now.

So now she would like the ceiling done !! i dont really want to sand those down - very difficult job

sand-blast ?
Some from of chemical stripper
or ?

[dewaltdisney]

It is a hell of a job as you have decades of people either leaving it or staining, painting etc. Stains can sink in and it is difficult to get a clean finish. But old oak is like iron, just the top surface is a bit softer. A sand blast approach is incredibly messy (the room will have to be totally cleared) and probably quite pricey and although it will possibly do a good job it may chew away the softer wood between fibres which can leave the wood very grainy to look at. Chemical peel is expensive, labour intensive and it might not give the results you want.

Perhaps the black finish is not looking that bad now

DWD

[big-all]

the bit you cleaned will be a bit off modern probably planed timber
the rest will be cut probably with a coarse pit saw and shaped with an adz
you may have 100 different colours not all nice
the old timbers will be black with soot well ingrained
at present you have uniform expect hotch potch

[etaf]

thanks for all the speedy replies
cheerrs
yep, i have said that all along. I dont think its been touched since first put up.
Owner builder added the etx in the late 80's and my mother-in-law lived her from 1995 and didn't touch.
My SO has always wanted to lighten the beams (paint them white or shade of white) ever since i purchased the property from her brother, and now that I did the shelf !!!!!!!! even more pressure - so i thought I would at least as and get some ideas. I would prefer the lighter oak colour and have not gone with the painting idea, although that may be the only way niw :( :( :(

I would hate to have the argument with her and then some friend comes in and says " that would be easy to do bla bla...." after i have rewired, replaster and minor repair on crakes etc to the whole room

[big-all]

did you notice my edit above suggesting they will be very black anyway with a hundred years off ground in soot

[etaf]

thanks big-all
Yes, i saw that after I posted , typing at the same time you replied
Thanks for that info
Also i think this issue

you may have 100 different colours not all nice

would make it look a mess just in itselfm without the other issues

[etaf]

thanks big-all
Yes, i saw that after I posted , typing at the same time you replied
Thanks for that info
Also i think this issue

you may have 100 different colours not all nice

would make it look a mess just in itselfm without the other issues