AboutGreg Scholl Expertise Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.
Experience Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.
Publications Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")
Education/Credentials Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.
Past/Present Clients Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.
Question QUESTION: From the title, I would like to "easily" strip the finish from a cabinet under the sink and retone and refinish only a part of the kitchen. I was hoping I could use a solvent stripper to remove the lacquer (cross linked or other wise) color match and re seal with lacquer (cross linked or otherwise). The cabinets are no more than 20 years old and I'm looking to doing the entire job myself.
ANSWER: Hi Bill, yep you likely can. But it takes a fair amount of skill to do this unless you are familiar with the techniques, materials, and color matching methods used.....if you're expecting me to teach all that to you here.....I can't. Is it easy? No.....is it possible...yes. Post back and I'll be happy to direct you in any way I can...but obviously I can't teach one how to do these fairly advanced techniques in a forum like this......regards- Greg
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QUESTION: Is there a simple chemical stripper I can use to begin this process because it sounds like sanding is not advisable. I have access to many chemicals and have made strong "cleaning" solvents in the past.
thank you.
Answer Any good commercially available stripper would likely work, I use Citristrip now almost exclusively, as it's much safer than Methylene Chloride strippers, but the MC strippers are the strongest, and work the fastest. Sanding off an old finish is never advised, as you need to remove all traces of it and get down to the bare wood, especially when any staining is involved. But be warned, it's a big job to strip a modern catalyzed finish, and to get down to clean, bare wood, you'll need to be thorough. But perseverance and elbow grease, (and a good stripper) will get you there. Pardon me for assuming you were a complete novice at this if you aren't...sometimes when I'm answering these questions late at night, I assume a lot...lol. Also, be careful when "making" strong solvent mixtures, many chemicals don't play well together, and can even give off toxic gasses when combined....regards- Greg
