Removing finish

[nys fowler]

I'm looking to refinish my English Fowler I made years ago. Mostly to reshape, remove wood, add carving.
What are my best options to strip away the Laurel Mtn Forge finish to get at the raw wood.
Thanks for any help

[davebozell]

I'd recommend mechanical removal, specifically scrapers.  If you have a lot of wood to remove, I'd use rasps and files.  The scrapers will leave a surface ready for finish.  No sandpaper or whiskering will be needed.

[Daryl]

I would use rasps where wood was to be removed anyway. In 'correct' areas, I'd use a poly-stripper as sold by most hardware stores - Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

[Pete G.]

Since there are two good answers already I will side with both of them.
Use the stripper first and then the scrapers.

[stuart cee dub]

''Better living through chemicals.''
For what it's worth I'm a big fan of some of the new strippers .
Fast and easy, it saves a lot of work .
By stripping first ,you start with a ''Tabula Rossa'' .
Everything will be the same ,then you can decide from where and how much wood to remove . Areas like the lockplate moldings probably should not be lowered even a little bit assuming these were done correctly the first go .
Regards Stuart

[Bob Roller]

''Better living through chemicals.''
For what it's worth I'm a big fan of some of the new strippers .
Fast and easy, it saves a lot of work .
By stripping first ,you start with a ''Tabula Rossa'' .
Everything will be the same ,then you can decide from where and how much wood to remove . Areas like the lockplate moldings probably should not be lowered even a little bit assuming these were done correctly the first go .
Regards Stuart

"Better living thru chemicals"---so said one of our cops who found and addict with the needle
still in his arm.

Bob Roller

[nys fowler]

Thanks all for the suggestions.  I'll stop by a hardware store and peruse the chemical inventory.

[Robby]

I've done two as you describe nys, I left the varnish on and had at it. By the time I was done, there wasn't much surface left that required stripping, so I removed the varnish with a razor sharp scraper. Leaving the varnish on seemed to work as a gauge to measure progress and what I was trying to accomplish. Best of luck to you!
Robby

[oldtravler61]

Robby good advice. Rather scrape it off than use chemicals. Just don't like the mess dealing with them. teho