Best method for stripping flaking finish from kitchen cabinets for refinishing

[Jim Becker]

That was the best decision they could have made here and the end result will be far superior, too.

[David Utterback]

I like chemical strippers most of the time, less chance to damage the surface or sand/scape through veneers. Clear finishes usually come right off. Of course I now have this third arm growing out of my abdomen...

What stripper were you using, Roger? i remember many situations where a 3rd arm would have been useful.

[Mel Fulks]

Steel cabinet scrapers are good,too. Sometimes called “card scrapers “. You file the edge flat ,then make a burr with a “burnisher”. The
agate or carbide burnishers work the best. But a drill bit about 3/8 ths inch works pretty well with a little oil on it.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I’ve spent many a day with burning thumbs on the business end of a card scraper on handful of entry door refinishing jobs as an apprentice that are burned into my mind. Very familiar with them and they can work really well for removing finish without gumming up $$$ of sandpaper and not cutting too deep in veneer situations.

In this situation I would have need to make 3 or 4 different profiled scrapers to handle the raised panel sections, coves, and small mouldings around the panel, then I would have had to actually scrape the fronts and backs of almost 30 doors and 20 drawer fronts, which also were a raised panel slab then would have had to fill the grain and still ended up with dated looking oak doors. Glad they decided to purchase new in this case for my sake!