-
My favourite for spindles etc are the soft pads in a fairly aggressive grit. Maybe the scraper set I linked a few pages ago might help too. There's no getting around it being a slow job though.
The ir stripping relies on the ir heating the wood under the paint so there's a good chance it would lift an oil based varnish, not so sure about water based. I don't think it would lift the stain but once the varnish is gone the stain should be easier to remove.
My next DIY project is to clean up a piece of oak that's worn and stained inside the patio doors where it gets stepped on during the winter. I will try ir on it just to see what happens.
Airhead-
Yeah I have the scrapers, but going across the grain was brutalising it pretty badly.
-
Some of the doors I am currently stripping are varnished under paint and it comes straight off. Best method I've found is to heat the whole door and the paint goes brittle and it scrapes straight off when it's cooled again
Polygon
rj
I read something on one of brands website that said no, so haven't even bothered trying tbh. Makes sense as the stain on our woodwork clearly permeates the grain a bit.
I picked up a new sheet sander last night as well as a random orbital. Between those and the belt I'll have another go at it properly this weekend. Even tempted to pick up one of those little bobbin spindles for a drill for doing the Newell post curves.