Removing a finish

[Jerry Lear]

I turned a walnut vase. After sanding, I applied Yorkshire grit and 5 coats of General Wood Bowl Finish. Evidently, I did not wait long enough between coats and the finish did not completely dry. Not realizing it was not dry, I attempted to buff it and in a number of places, some of the finish was buffed off. I think the only way to salvage the vase is to remove the finish and start over. Aside from sanding the finish off, is there anything I can do to get some of the finished removed to reduce sanding time? As I am sure you know, this is a oil/varnish base finish.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Jerry

 

[Dave Landers]

My preferred way to remove finish is to re-mount the piece and cut or scrape off the finish. But that's not usually possible (for various reasons, but usually because wood moves and the piece is no longer round enough). Otherwise I sand.

 

[Randy Anderson]

A while back I had to remove the lacquer finish off a number of hollow form pieces. It had failed and gotten sticky over time. I mounted them on the lathe and with a dark grey 3M pad and some lacquer thinner I was able to get a lot of it off before I sanded back to the wood. As the 3M pad gunked up I rinsed it out and went at it more until I felt most of it was removed. Not sure what would remove the finish you have but whatever you do, I think re-sanding will be where you end up.