Oak staircase hand rail what finish to apply

[okeydokey]

I live in a 1930's house with the original staircase and handrail.
After years at looking at the ugly black finish below the handrail to the staircase (where banisters would have been fitted, the infill between the handrail and stairs looks like 1/2" ply) I am going to sand/scrape off the black finish and repaint with another lighter colour.
The handrail will stay unpainted it is smooth with 90 years of hand smoothing - after cleaning it off (whats the best way to do that please) I would like to finish it with something probably not a varnish maybe a wax.
How do you think this is best done please?

 

[scholar]

Re the balustrade, I don’t know if it is necessary to strip all the old paint off - can’t really tell from the picture whether a good sand then reprime (I suggest Zinsser 123) would give a decent base for your chosen new paint.
An alternative would be to take out the whole panel between the newel posts and replace with glass, if you wanted a more open look.

Re the handrail, I would scrape (Bahco scrapers) all the old finish (and the ingrained black stains) off, then hand sand 80/120/180/240 (optional), then finish with Osmo hard wax oil. Having just largely followed this method of application , it is a great way to apply this stuff in the sparing amounts required.

Cheers

 

[okeydokey]

Thanks Scholar think the infill will stay as is good tip about the Osmo oil, I spoke the their tech info dept yesterday and that seems to be the product it will keep the wood "clean" rather than a wax which would(?) pick up dirt from day to day use.