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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/Is there an easy way to strip wood cabinets?

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Expert: - 10/19/2008


Question
We have light wood cabinets, with a shiny stain on them... my husband is using citristrip stripping gel, and then scrapping the cabinet with a scrapper.  It isn't going very well, can we just get some kind of sandpaper and put it on the sander?  What is your advice and suggestions?

Answer
Hi Teresa, Yes you may go directly to sanding if your cabinets are solid wood.  I myself prefer sanding over stripping. Start by using a 150 grit and then go over it all once again using a three or 400 finer grit. Remember that sanding will throw alot of dust into the air. Try to use plastic sheeting to seal the area from the rest of the house and certainly use a decent respirator to protect form inhaling the dust.  You can start out with power sanding but will most likely have to resort to some hand sanding especially in the corners.  Once you are successful in getting the cabinets down to raw wood, you may continue with your refinishing. Make sure to wipe the cabinets down with a tacky cloth to remove any fine dust from them before refinishing. It is important to refinish as soon after sanding as the dust has all settled and been removed because it is quite easy for raw wood to absorb humidity and want to warp or slightly distort.  use good quality products when refinishing. Thanks for the question and good luck with your project.

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maura macaluso

Expertise

I can answer most questions, regarding, wood sculpture, wood carving, carving tools and accessories and different types of woods.I am not an appraiser of carvings nor an antique dealer.

Experience

I do full design work, custom carving, restoration, fabrication, repair and refinishing. I can take a piece of raw wood and turn it into a work of art and I can help you do the same. I am "the" carving instructor for the new york city parks dept. I am heavily involved in carving on the internet and belong to many, many mail lists which are quite active. I am also an international promoter of woodcarving and am affiliated with many master carvers, notably nora hall, originally from holland, now in the U.S. and kalina pavlova, a bulgarian master carver. I routinely communicate with the top names in professional woodcarving nationally and internationally.

Organizations
the national association of woodcarvers. the woodcarvers of queens NY, the staten island woodcarvers. the northeast woodcarving association. the world wide carving internet list

Publications
chip chats-the national magazine of woodcarving. also at www.carvinginnyc.com

Education/Credentials
Self taught artist and sculptor, 40 years of drawing and painting as a hobby, 5 years of serious woodsculpting. I have my own website and have written a 300 pg book on carving. I have published online tutorials and pictorial projects

Awards and Honors
many first place awards

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