I need to know what to treat new hickory spokes with?..i don't want to paint them black.
I also need to know if powder coating is alright for the rims and hubs,or is it too thick?
I just finished building a set of wheels with stained and urethaned spokes and powder coated Kelsey metal felloes, I had no issues with the fit of the parts.
If you have metal felloes, be sure to get the correct length spokes, Hayes felloes and Kelsey felloes are 1/16 inch larger inside diameter than Ford felloes, and use very slightly longer (by 1/32 inch) length spokes. The suppliers know about the difference and can provide spokes of the correct length for your felloes.
Here is a link to the thread showing my wheel build:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/454203.html?1404960383
By the way, here is a picture of the stain and exterior urethane that I used on my spokes. Each spoke takes the stain a little differently, so I ended up having to put two coats of stain on about half of the spokes to get them to better match the other ones. I ended up putting on four coats of exterior grade spar urethane. I put on two coats, allowed the spokes to dry overnight, then lightly sanded the spokes with 240 grit paper, wiped off the dust with a cloth, then put on two more coats.