Cleaning and finishing root?

[Chris152]

Visiting friends yesterday they showed me this piece of wood they'd found a while back, I guess it's a root?

They'd like to clean and put a natural finish on it before mounting it to the wall. It's about a metre long, very dry, quite light and feels fragile.
Any thoughts about how they might go about cleaning and finishing it?

Thanks

Chris

 

[custard]

I clean up waney edges for tables and desks with brushes, first brass then nylon. Your lump would take ages to deliver a decent job, like twenty hours plus. Maybe they could take a shortcut with a power washer?

In any event I'd finish with Osmo applied with a stiff brush, you could use oil but it would stink the house out for months. If they want more shine mix up a semi hard carnauba wax and apply with a stiff brush, but that thing's a dust trap and wax would make it even more so.

 

[Chris152]

Maybe a not-too-aggressive wash with a power hose to remove the worst of the dirt, followed by the brush treatment you suggest would work - They're not in a hurry and could do an hour here and there for a few months, I guess it might become quite therapeutic! I'd not thought of wax holding dust which would make it even harder to clean, Osmo would work a treat I think.

Thanks Custard. Over to them now...

 

[Andrewf]

I've cleaned a couple of smaller bits like that. I used water based floor varnish. It sealed in any dust or loose bits that i missed.

 

[AJB Temple]

Sand blast it. Can hire one quite cheaply. Will take a couple of hours.

 

[Chris152]

Thanks both.

AJB - that looks like it'd work well but while a portable blaster isn't too expensive (£35 at HSS) and looks just the ticket, the compressor costs a lot to hire (£123). I'll look into it more to see if there are cheaper options though - thanks.

 

[Mark A]

Thanks both.

AJB - that looks like it'd work well but while a portable blaster isn't too expensive (£35 at HSS) and looks just the ticket, the compressor costs a lot to hire (£123). I'll look into it more to see if there are cheaper options though - thanks.

HSS are notoriously expensive. Any independent hire shops nearby? If they don't have one then it may be worth approaching local shot blasting companies for a quote.