[lukedevilliers]

Hello and thanks all for your time.

Newbie question here.

I'm refinishing an old university surplus wooden chair that looks somewhat like a Mission or "Bellingham" chair, I've taken most of the old lacquer off with a palm sander. The chair back is made up of 6 slat-style spindles. It resembles the attached image in form (but it's bare nicked up wood rather than this beautifully finished piece.)

To get the finish off the spindles I started using the Dremel but quickly realized it would turn the entire chair into sawdust in minutes, so I stopped.

I have no good way to get in between those damn spindles, or for that matter get up snug where two pieces of wood meet at 90 degrees!

What's the standard reasonably non-destructive method for doing this?

(I wear a respirator and safety glasses btw.)

 

[greasemonkeyredneck]

Last time I done something similar to what you're describing, I used about a two foot piece of emory cloth. I used inch wide emory cloth, run it between the spindles, then wrapped each end around a piece of dowel and stapled it to the dowels. This made temporary handles so I could easily pull the emory cloth back and forth across the spindles while working it up and down them. This seemed to me to make it go pretty easily.

 

[craftsman on the lake]

when I have something round or curved I tear off strips of my old belts from my 6"x48" belt sander. They are tough and can take a lot of abuse. I use them shoeshine fashion and they work great.

 

[lanwater]

I would use a sanding sponge:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=19643

Cut it in long strips between 1 to 2" wide and use it "shoe polishing" motion.

They are flexible and durable.

 

[swirt]

Another thing to consider is that maybe the spindles don't need much sanding…. they were likely smooth when the chair was made. If youa re doing it just to remove the old finish, a solvent that matches the finish type might be a less destructive choice.

 

[lukedevilliers]

Solvent wound up being the way to go. I'll post a pic, it ended up looking OK.