jacy wrote:

About 20 years ago we sanded and put a clear coat or two of poly on
our kitchen cabinets. I'd like to stain them dark. Can I expect good
results after removing the poly with a chemical stripper? I plan to
use a conditioner and then stain. I'm not looking for perfection --
these cabinets are nearly 60 years old and quite well used -- just
something reasonably passable to tide me over for a few more years
until a full kitchen reno.

I just did this to a pine front door last week. The bottom half was
badly oxidized and dark brown. The top half was much lighter.

The finish was crumbly, so I sanded all the flat spots down to bare
wood, spot sanded the trim, and used a mahogany stain to get the
now-bare areas to (mostly) match the remaining darkened finish on the
molding. The client didn't want to pay me to spend two days sanding the
molding bare, and I don't blame him. They could have bought most of a
new door for the labor costs. I'm currently putting on coats of clear
polyurethane, one every few days. What I did is a good compromise.

Go ahead and strip your cabinets. You'll need to do something chemical
with kitchen woodwork anyway. Nothing much sticks to cabinets coated
with cooking fumes. Pick a hidden area to work first, and experiment.
The end of a cabinet is good. You can always cover your tests with
veneer.

Your other options a
* Paint
* Refacing
* Replacement

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX