chudford wrote:
My Daughter has just bought an old house with oak beams that have been
coated in thick black paint/varnish.
Is there any way that they can be stripped back to the original wood
surface in situ without wrecking the surrounding ceiling?

Worth checking by hand sanding whether the coating goes to a powder or
gums up and sticks to the abrasive.

This kind of thing would be fast, and get you right to the edge, but
they do throw crap everywhere.

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=128130

Chemical removers might work but getting them to stick to overhead
surfaces might be a problem. Caustic types are effective on oil or
spirit based coatings, but won't touch synthetic varnishes like
polyurethane. They also seriously darken oak, but this can be easily
reversed with peroxide.