Sanding a mantle piece

[bobtskutter]

Hello all,
I've been giving my Rotex 125 a work out, and it's been giving my arms a work out!!

I started sanding the large Pine (I think) mantle piece over my wood burning stove.  The wood is as old as the house, so probably about 40yrs and has been painted with some mahogany wood stain, it looks awful.  I've been using Granat P40 and the Rotex is doing a great job.  I've got some Saphir P24 on order to see how well that does.

I'd like to keep the beam looking it's natural colour, what do you suggest I treat it with?  The beam gets hot, because it's over the top of the wood burner.  The bottom of the beam smells of creosote now that I've stripped away the old varnish, I guess that could be a result of many years being heated up by the wood burner.

Many thanks
bob

edit: forgot to mention, I'm in UK.

 

[mrFinpgh]

Osmo Neutral has a pinch of white pigment in it, which offsets the ambering effect of the oil.  It is very effective at doing that.

Ultimately, the pine will get darker over time but I think something like the Osmo would be a good choice in terms of keeping it close to natural.

 

[Packard]

I have no experience with this type of work, but I would suggest a face mask in addition to the dust collection.  Creosote is a serious irritant.  Also, long sleeves and gloves. 

Google:  “Creosote dust” and you will find similar warnings.

 

[bobtskutter]

[member=59039]mrFinpgh[/member] and [member=74278]Packard[/member] thank you for your advice.
regards
Bob

 

[bobtskutter]

Justed wanted to update my post to show the finished job.
I suspect the wood is Pine.
I used my Rotex 125 with Granat P40 to remove most of the old paint finish.  Then Saphir P24 to remove the rouge marks that someone had created using an angle grinder.  After that, P40 / 80 / 120 / 180 Granat and 3 coats of PolyX raw sanding with 220 between coats.
I use an old Dyson drag around vacuum as a dust collector with the sander, it works great.
Regards
Bob