On 9 Jun 2006 00:12:07 -0700, wrote:

Some of the non volatile acid based strippers (water based) I hear work
well. I don't have 4-8 hours to give to the stripper for it to do its
work. And then some of them don't work well anyway. But they are much
less dangerous, and some of them even smell like oranges.

Mmmm. The orange stuff is nice, but it takes a bit more time and
work. I had to lay it on with a brush, then cover the area with
tinfoil so it didn't dry before it ate through the paint on some
walnut built-ins I was refinishing. Took off seven layers of latex
and oil-based paints, though- and it smelled good, too. It won't
remove analine dye that has soaked into the wood.

That being said, it's too much of a crap shoot to use any chemical if
you don't want runs getting on the sides and legs, though. I'd go
with the card scraper- then it doesn't matter what the finish is, and
there is no toxic goo to clean up. I like the Lie-Neilson ones,
myself- for about $7, nothing I've found does a nicer job. I've got a
couple of Sandviks as well, but they're too f*#%ing hard to roll a
burr on unless you're carrying a vise on the jobsite. If you want to
save some wear and tear on your hands, you might want to get a scraper
holder that sets the bow for you, and keeps the heat away from your
thumbs.

Let us know how you do!

Robert