Upcycling welsh dresser - how remove varnish?

stripeyzebra19

My first attempt at upcycling and iv chosen a welsh dresser. I have no idea what it is sealed in, I thought varnish but I'm not sure, its very orangey, shiny and smooth. What I would like to do is bring the worktop of it back to the original pine wood. I had a go at it with an orbital sander using 80 grit sandpaper but all that's done is make a few scratches! Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do?

Many thanks!

jenny-wren

I stripped mine with a sander. Start with a coarse grit paper and then resand using finer papers. The varnish will come off and, as you sand with finer papers, the scratches will disappear. It's hard work but well worth it!

Chrishazle

I did an old pine dining table recently, having to try to get the top flat as well as clean. Started with about a 150grit belt on the 4" belt sander, ended up using 40grit first!

you might want to look at varnish stripper - years ago I did a Victorian dressing table than had been very badly French polished, ended up using Nitromors, messy but it did the job. It also meant that when I started sanding to get a smooth finish, the sander did not continually clog up with varnish!

jimbo_the_jetset

I understand chalk paint will go straight onto many surfaces without the need for any preparation (e.g. sanding).

Not done this personally (yet).

phil24_7

The current Nitromors isn't anywhere near as good as the one from years ago and requires a lot more coats and elbow grease to work!

Chrishazle

Phil, I suspect you're right - all the EU regulations about solvents! OP should remember that there are at least 2 types of Nitromors - one for paint, one for varnishes, he'll need the second type.

One advantage for what he's doing is that it's applied by brush so gets into edges etc that are difficult to get a sander to.