Cleaning old oak beams

Has anyone had any success in cleaning old black oak beams, we have found that scraping them first then sanding them is the most successful, but it is such hard, time consuming and dusty work, there must be an easier way. I'm thinking of trying sugar soap or vinegar or any concoction that would make it easier.

My French neighbour says its soot that was applied to the beams which is supposed to prevent woodworm, in my case he could be right, it certainly looks and feels like soot. Any suggestions welcome.

I have found the same difficulty cleaning up our beams. I have only tackled one so far and it took me two half days to complete. I used an ordinary electric sander to begin with but by far the best method was to use a nylon sanding wheel made by Wolfcraft. The one we used was in the shape of a disk and we bought ours in the UK from a shop we know called Robert Samuell & Co. Ltd. Their telephone number is 020 8863 2492. We bought two and used both of them although the second one still has life in it. They cost us about £5. each approx. Its hard graft which ever way you do it. If you have rotten edges caused by woodworm we found it best to chisel this part off and then sand smooth with an electric sander which makes for a nice wavy edge.

Good luck.

Modu