cshenk wrote:
Hi, Don and i have been having more fun with our hobby. We enjoy
refinishing furniture. When we have too much, we freecyle it. We
generally are working on 'good bones' solid wood pieces. Its sanding
the odd round bit or the detail work that has me looking at the dremmel
models.

If any have experience with them, could use some on which model to get.
I do not need the heavy duty professional level stuff.


I have refinished a lot of antique furniture, not highly valuable, but I
would never sand it. Don't believe I ever have sanded antiques. I also
own a Dremel and have used it for lots of hobby and odd household work -
fixing rust on my old Buick and regrouting ceramic tile in our shower.
My battery operated Dremel has variable speed, which is very handy.

When I refinish furniture with grooves or carving, I scrub the paint
remover into the fine spots with whatever tool works. I slop it on
thickly first, let it work, then scrub it around - toothbrush on fine
detail, fine steel wool on flat surfaces. Dig with toothpicks or wood
skewers to get the gunk out of grooves and carvings - paint remover
softens wood, so I don't like to use anything harder. Unless there are
many coats of paint, I usually get the finish off with three
applications - one will get most varnish off, but a couple more get to
the last remnants of finish and most stain. I clean it all off with
rags, paper towels and finally, fine steel wool. Scrub with steel wool
and mineral spirits to get the stripper out. Let dry. The scrubbing
with steel wool has the effect of sanding, as far as removing fuzzies,
but I would hesitate to sand part of a piece of furniture for fear of
ruining the patina.