Tip #45
Finishing Touches
Part 5 of 6 - Refinishing (continued)
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Mechanical Stripping Process

Once you've removed as much of the old finish as you can with chemicals, you'll have to do some touch-up work mechanically. You'll need scrapers, sandpaper, steel wool, perhaps a vibrating sander of some sort - and a lot of muscle. Next to muscle, you'll find that the most useful tools in this bunch are your scrapers. They'll remove the leftover finish cleanly without biting deeply into the wood. They're also much easier to control in this application than abrasives.

Scrape your project as you would normally, stopping as soon as you begin to get wood curls. Remember that paint dulls tools quickly, so you'll have to stop to sharpen your scrapers often. Sand those areas that you can't reach with your scrapers. Start with a cheap, open coat, medium grit flint paper and work your way up, step-by-step to a fine grit garnet paper. Then go over your entire surface with steel wool or a plastic wool product.

If you've used a caustic stripper and your grain's slightly raised, you may want to lightly sand the entire project. Use a vibrating pad sander and extra fine garnet paper. Avoid using belt sanders for this operation - they remove far too much wood in a single pass. The only time you'll find belt sanders useful in refinishing is when a project has been coated and recoated many times. In these cases, a medium-coarse, open coat belt will take off the finish faster and more economically than chemical strippers alone. Be sure to clean your belt often with an abrasive belt cleaner and be sure to stop sanding BEFORE you get down to the wood.

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