I recently started stripping the finish off of a nice set of walnut cabinets. I’m using the orange citrus stripper that you get a the BORG. I’ve used it before, and it’s worked very well for indoor projects (i.e. stripping jobs in the shop during the winter).
This time I used it, however, it seems to have softened the wood considerably. To the point where, when I’ve run my cabinet scraper across it to get a final smooth finish, it does not “cut” the wood fibres, it seems to tear them. After each pass of the scraper, I end up with a semi-gooey blob of soft wood fibres along the edge of the scraper blade.
The scraper is very sharp and has a nice hook. I’ve tested it on another piece of walnut and it cuts like a dream.
Any one else experience this?
Replies
How did your strippng process go. Did you leave the stripper on longer than usual? How did you remove the stripper and old finish from the surface? Is the sharp scraper being used on wood wet with stripper, or on wood that has been stripped, neutralized, and then dried?
Thanks very much for your response.
The stripping process seemed to go well. I put the citrus stripper on, waited from 6 to 12 hours, and then scraped as much of the "sludge" off as I could. I then rinsed the wood well with mineral spirits, and reapplied the stripper to areas that still had some finish. I gave the wood a final rinse with mineral spirits and let it dry overnight. The next day, the wood seemed to be soft.
I am going under the assumption that the wood was somehow left "wet" by the citrus product, and thet the mineral spirits did not adequately remove the humidity. I had given both stripped pieces a nice hot bath in oil soap, and they are now drying. We'll see how things go in a few days!
To avoid this problem I try to remove all the softened finish with a plastic putty knife or bondo spreader. As Steve suggests, after neutralizing the stripper and allowing the wood to dry thoroughly the scraper should behave.
Ummmmmm. When I strip ANY wood, and use a scraper, I use a dull putty knife. But I see you are talking about a cabinet scraper, and wonder why you are using this on stripped wood instead of sandpaper. I assume you took the remnants of the stripper off with some solvent, preferably mineral spirits. And I assume you let the wood dry.
Finished the thread. You are now WASHING it.
Use a putty knife for stripping. Use steel wool or a 3M pad for removing stripper at the final step. Use steel wool or 3M and mineral spirits for being sure all the remover is removed. And then do it again with paper towels. You had residual remover left on which is what the gummy stuff is.
A cabinet scraper needs to be on raw DRY wood. Sandpaper is a better choice here. Just wondering where you got your process from--for stripping.
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