Albretch Mueller wrote in news:1220582012.901689
@nntp.acecape.com:

Hi,
~
What do people use to sand hard-to-reach areas, like engrave letters
on wood, and round surfaces?
~
Also, how can I check and test first what is the proper varnish I
should use on that type of very old wood?
~

You don't say why you are doing this, but if refinishing is what you're
after, sanding may not be the right way to go at all. A lot of carvings
get their look from the tools that were used to produce them. If you sand,
particularly if you sand incised lettering, you will round over the nice
crisp edges that were left by gouges and chisels.

I would suggest that you look into stripping the finish chemically - an
unpleasant, tedious process, but one that won't remove any wood (if you are
careful!). There will be many hours of painstaking work involved, but it
will leave the details the way the original craftsman intended.

You will have to find out what the original finish is first - if you're
lucky, it will be shellac, and you won't need anything nastier than
denatured alcohol to strip it. If it is truly varnish, it gets more
difficult and messy.

You have some homework to do before you start - good luck!

Scott