too time consuming due to the brown varnishy stuff - i've a bus foor to sort, you know! unless there's something i can paint on and scrape off, then i think it'll have to be bath time
Stripping a door frame tonight with heat gun. The layers of paint bubble and come off pretty easily but there’s a layer of caramel coloured stuff before getting down to the wood. This stuff heats and is pliable for one second before burning, going brittle and leaving scorch marks! Not an issue on the frames as they’ll be repainted (stripping to repair and get the profiles back) but the doors I want to leave stripped - without scorch marks.
Best results I've ever had were with an electric planer set to "zero" ... Takes enough off to give you a fighting chance following up with a sanding block and then a hand held Stanley blade dragged back width ways at an angle ........
my plane didn't survive the move to a damp cellar (dry cellar now). I do like a good draw knife but with eight doors to do would take me forever!
yes, used caustic soda on one door but not sure after all the rinsing needed it was any better than a caustic dip.
i so nearly did but thought i'd keep the house stuff together. There's more stripping to do once i get under the van in a couple of weeks!
Might be worth farming this one out. We found a non caustic dipper person to do ten 10 by 3 foot part glazed doors I had out of a school being gutted ... No damage to joints etc
If yer gunk is a varnish it might come off quite easily with Mr Stanley ... Time to get a planer? (recc "Milwaukie")
Ahh, I thought the only dips available were caustic. Will look into it. I did think that if I got them done in the winter and braced/clamped then they’d dry out slower and in shape? Maybe.