"GARY" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, Robert,

I read the entire thread at http://tinyurl.com/fpso5.

Eliminating some of the off-the-subject comments, a number of good
suggestions remain. However I don't know which would yield the results
I'm looking for so I'll re-state my situation:

The Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane was applied over many years' of
liquid furniture polish (like Pledge, Old English, etc) which is on top
of the original, factory-applied lacquer (?) finish and dark, walnut
stain.

How can I remove only the polyurethane and the polish so the original
lacquer and stain remain?


Wet sand it down Gary. Use a very fine paper like 600 grit or so and plan
on spending some time at it. If you look carefully as you progress your way
through the layers, you should see when you get through the poly and to the
factory lacquer. You will see "edges". Don't worry if you get slightly
into the factory lacquer. It won't hurt it. In fact if you took all of the
poly off and found yourself slightly into the factory finish across the
entire table top, you could then switch to a much finer paper like 1200 or
1500 and follow that with a buffer and find yourself staring at a nice
factory looking finish again. (Assuming the factory finish was not all
dinged up, etc.).

Use a sanding block so that you get even distribution of pressure. Don't
try to sand by hand or you will end up with high spots and low spots. Maybe
even digs in the finish. Also - 600 is about as coarse as you'd want to go
on a finish. Be careful as you can burn through quicker than you might
think. Take the time to watch how it is going. Wet sanding finishes, no
matter what they are on, is a practice in patience. You're finessing a
piece of work. Finally - it's ok to cuss a bit while wet sanding.

--

-Mike-