chemicaly removing bitumen

[eggtastico]

would caustic soda / Sodium hydroxide be a good way to remove bitumen & all the other crap from reclaimed parquet flooring blocks?
I still have a load & it taking me to long to scrape as Im busy with work

 

[cmother1]

Caustic soda would be a bad idea. It will bleach the wood to a nasty dull colour and I doubt if it will even touch the bitumen (I know from personal experience that it doesn't remove Synthaproof).
To get bitumen off you'd need a hydrocarbon based solvent like paraffin, white spirit or petrol (NOT recommended). If the tar is thick you will need buckets of the stuff to dissolve it and expect some staining even so.
Not sure if this is an economic prospect given the effort involved.