"g" wrote in message
...
I'm doing some intro woodworking projects and need a good chemical
stripper that easy to clean up, will not interfere with sanding, and low
toxity level.


thanks

There are several types of furniture strippers not counting the
specialized ones for paint.

I will assume that by "good" you mean one that works in a reasonable
amount of time and does a complete job. The only ones that are really
"good" are those that contain Methylene Chloride (MC). ATM strippers
(Acetone, Toluene, Methanol) can remove some furniture coatings like simple
lacquer and shellac but won't do much for varnish or polyurethane. As you
can imagine, ATM strippers are quite flammable. MC strippers are typically
not flammable. MC strippers work quite fast. You can usually see them
bubbling up the finish in about ten minutes. ATM strippers work more slowly
since they are trying to dissolve the finish. All other strippers work
slowly so probably don't fit your definition of good.

As for cleanup, it's all in how you do it. After you have given it the
once over with 4/0 steel wool or a ScotchBrite pad soaked in stripper and
then removed the excess with a plastic blade / scrapper, try wiping down
the piece with a clean rag to remove most of the stripper / finish. Then,
go over it with 1/1/2 (v/v/v) alcohol/acetone/toluene. This will remove any
remaining stripper, wax, and finish. The beauty of the mixture is that it
does not allow the finish to redeposit. The cleaning takes no more than
five minutes.

There are no strippers that interfere with sanding once they have been
thoroughly removed and the wash is allowed to evaporate.

As for low toxicity, the only stripper that is as close to nontoxic as
you can get is Safest Stripper by 3M. The active ingredients are dibasic
esters (DBEs). That stripper is extremely slow and is not particularly
thorough. Just work in a well ventilated environment and you will be fine.
The wax in all the paste strippers forms a coating over the stripper that
minimizes evaporation and therefore, fumes.

Good Luck.