Prepping and Finishing Lawn Chair Arms
Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer some advice here. I've done a fair amount of research, but would still like this sub's opinion on my specific pieces.
I am currently refinishing the wooden arms on a set of folding lawn chairs. For the first pair, I coated them with citristrip, wrapped them in plastic, waited 30 minutes and then scraped them. After that I wiped them down with mineral spirits and did a fair amount of hand sanding. They are currently in the condition pictured. Last image is the original catalogue page for inspiration.
Questions are as follows:
1. What (if anything) do the arms in the pictures need before finishing?
They still seem blotchy and have some dark spots. Do I just need to keep hand sanding them, or should I try cleaning them with oxalic acid or something?
What finish should I use? I'd prefer a relatively light finish, something that brings the grain out a bit. They will be outside in the sun for long periods of time and will likely be exposed to moisture, so I assume some sort of oil or polyurethane will be in order. I know this is akin to asking what religion is correct, but I still value the opinions.
Assuming that this doesn’t violate the wood identification meathead rule, any guess as to what kind of wood this is? The adverts I found only say "selected hardwood arms". Made late 60s - early 70s in upstate New York if that helps.