Strip or sand oak?

[Raymond Fries]

I was gifted five red oak boards that are 3/4" x 6" x 11' that were the wall tops for cubicles from an office. Just a few pairs of nail holes down the length to hold them down. Really nice shape. I have never used stripper and wondering if it would be easier to use that instead of sanding the finish off.

If I use stripper, is it easy to remove all of the residue so it can be refinished?

Thanks for your ideas.

[John TenEyck]

Most typical finishes are far easier to strip off than sand off. Just use a stripper with methylene chloride in it - like Kleanstrip Premium or equivalent. It's best to work outside if you can, but a garage is OK with the door open. Wear heavy rubber gloves, goggles, and long sleeves because the stuff burns your skin. With that product, after the stripper has bubbled up the finish you just scrape it off with a plastic scraper, or wipe it off with a Scotchbrite type pad, then neutralize it with their product, or mineral spirits or Naptha. Any sanding you need to do at that point to ease damaged edges, etc. will be easy, and you're ready to refinish.

John

[Don Huffer]

Most times sanding is much more work and you may not get enough of the finish off and out of the wood and won't find out until you try to stain it or finish it.

Don