I'm refinishing an old-style TV cabinet.

I've stripped off the original polyurethane and stain from the cabinet.

What's the best way to remove the stain from the inside corners and from the round moldings around the base and on the front which also has rounded spindles?

gary wrote:
I'm refinishing an old-style TV cabinet.

I've stripped off the original polyurethane and stain from
the
cabinet.

What's the best way to remove the stain from the inside
corners and
from the round moldings around the base and on the front
which also
has rounded spindles?

either a soft wire brush(brass) or a toothbrush with it
dipped in stripper

On 4/12/2013 6:26 PM, gary wrote:
I'm refinishing an old-style TV cabinet.

I've stripped off the original polyurethane and stain from the cabinet.

What's the best way to remove the stain from the inside corners and from the round moldings around the base and on the front which also has rounded spindles?

I use steel wool, usually about medium, to scrub off the final
application of stripper, and then again with a final wash of mineral
spirits (depends on type of stripper being used. Unwind a pad of steel
wool, and (depending on size of spindles) separate it into "ribbons".
Then just pull the ribbon of s.w. back and forth around the spindle. If
it has fine ridges, use tooth pick, tooth brush, wood skewer, or
whatever to get out the final grunge. I don't use metal tools with
strippers because the stripper softens the wood and don't want to make
dents.

When I have to hold onto the s.w. to scrub by hand, I use a sandwich bag
as a glove. Latex gloves break down pretty fast with m.s.

On Apr 12, 10:14*pm, Norminn wrote:
On 4/12/2013 6:26 PM, gary wrote: I'm refinishing an old-style TV cabinet.

Gary:

Interior wood stain is nothing more than dye DISSOLVED in either alcohol or mineral spirits. When you apply wood stain to wood, the alcohol or mineral spirits get absorbed into the wood, and the dye dissolved in that alcohol or mineral spirits goes along for the ride.

Then, the alcohol or mineral spirits evaporates from the wood, leaving that dye behind right inside the hollow wood cells or inside the wood cell walls.

Consequently, a paint stripper WILL NOT remove wood stain. It will only remove paints, varnishes and polyurethanes that are on the surface of the wood, but not the dye that's right inside the wood cells and cell walls.

The only satisfactory way that I know of to remove stain from wood is by removing the wood containing that stain, and that's normally done by sanding.

For inside square corners, then the most effective way to remove the stained wood is with an electric power tool specifically made for sanding into corners, but if you want to do the job by hand, then your best bet is to buy a sanding block, like this:



That rubber sanding block has spikes under the rubber flaps at each end that hold the sandpaper firmly in place. You can place the sandpaper in the sanding block so that it's flush with the side of the block. That allows you to sand right into a 90 degree corner. You can cut a standard piece of sand paper into 4 strips, each of which will fit the sanding block properly.

For the rounded parts, I'd buy some plumber's sand cloth:



Ideally, you want to sand in the same direction as the wood grain, but that's not always practical, especially where you're sanding into a corner.

Also, because stain is nothing more than dye dissolved in alcohol or mineral spirits, you can continue to dye wood darker and darker and darker by staining it a second, third and fourth time. The trick is simply to allow sufficient time for the mineral spirits or alcohol to fully evaporate from the wood after each staining. Once the alcohol or mineral spirits have completely evaporated, then staining the wood again will result in more mineral spirits or alcohol being absorbed into the wood, and more dye going along for the ride.

So, instead of staining the ready wood with undiluted stain, consider diluting the stain with mineral spirits, and applying multiple coats of diluted stain. That way, if you find your wood doesn't stain evenly, you can apply more stain to the lighter areas the second or third time around to promote a more uniform colouration of your wood.

On Apr 12, 11:26*pm, gary wrote:
I'm refinishing an old-style TV cabinet.

I've stripped off the original polyurethane and stain from the cabinet.

What's the best way to remove the stain from the inside corners and from the round moldings around the base and on the front which also has rounded spindles?

Shave hook.
http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/se...&va=shave+hook