Towmotor Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Hi all, I'm new here, and every other chat room so I hope this is how it works. :-) I have an old, wooden, ship's wheel, that laid on the bottom of the ocean for a number of years. It is partially worm eaten and has lots of very cool looking worm holes running through out the wheel. I would like to mount this in my home, and I'm not sure of how to proceed. Some of the worm holes are quite close to the surface, and the wood is very thin in these places. I'm torn between trying to strip the finish off, and shine up the brass and mount it like that. ( If I do that, I was thinking of maybe, filling the worm tunnels with some type of a clear resin to give the wood strength and keep dust and critters out.) Or should I just try to leave it looking the way it is now? ( I don't really like the way the spokes of the wheel have faded and roughened. ) The wheel is from a commercial fishing vessel the went down in the 70s and probably has little or no value real as an antique, so finishing it and making it " shine" has some appeal to me. I just don't want to ruin the wheel when I try to finnish it. My father took it 20+ years ago to strip, and mount it for me but he moved and misplaced it, until a few weeks ago. I say this to let you know that it is COMPLETELY dry now and seams to have shed what looks like salt crystals. If anyone has any thoughts on this project, or know of any pitfalls to be aware of, or look out for, I would be very appreciative of your knowledge. Also if you know of any types of products that I would be good for this type of project, I would be very interested in reading any comments. Thank you for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Welcome to the forums Towmotor, could you post a picture so we can see what you're dealing with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 ==> could you post a picture so we can see what you're dealing with? Just kidding... Actually, the last ship's wheel I encountered... Great Lakes, Ontario Canada. 2005. Nikonos V. E6 film (anyone remember film?), 14mm lens, Ikelight strobe... The lower shot was "up close and personal" -- in the hull, one my back, shooting straight-up... Distance 2ft... Wanted the sun in the frame... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Walked right into that one Thanks TripleH, that was funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 ==> the last ship's wheel I encountered... OK, it's getting late... so let's be helpful... If the wheel has been submerged, there are a couple of websites dedicated to preserving and restoring shipwreck artifacts.. http://njscuba.net/artifacts/ http://nauticalarch.org/projects/all/southern_europe_mediterranean_aegean/uluburun_turkey/continuing_study/conservation/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBaker Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hey Towmotor. Welcome to the forum. If you will contact the nearest university archaeology dept., they should be able to tell you how to best stabilize the wood so it can be refinished. The leaching salts will ruin any finish you try to put on the wheel, so you need to find out what the preservationists use to soak their artifacts. Whatever the solution is, it removes the salts and keeps them from further decaying the wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Looks like an "oops" post.. Or an invisible wheel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towmotor Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Oh, didn't I mention that it was from a ghost ship??? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towmotor Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 I'm on a Mac. I sure hope this works. I went through Facebook to reduce the file size but its not looking to good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towmotor Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Holy Qwap it worked :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopnhack Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 That is a cool looking wheel. The center was bronze at one point I am guess by the faint green rust? The six handles are let into the wheel and join at the center piece. Very cool piece. Is the wood teak or mahogany by any chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towmotor Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Here is a couple more of it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme john Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 Hi, I have a 10 spoke ship’s wheels about 5 ft or 1.5 meters in diameter and I’m told it’s about 200 years old, it has been painted and to bring it back to it’s original I think I will have to get all the paint off, can I use a paint stripper or would that bugger the wood otherwise the old fashioned sand paper maybe the go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 Mild chemical strippers of the 'natural' variety, like Citristrip, shouldn't do any damage to the wood. There is a slight possibility of glue softening, though. I Would probably avoid saturating with chemical stripper to reach the last nooks and crannies, but rely on scraping tools and sandpaper at that point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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