Removing gloss!

[philboybach]

i am hoping to strip the gloss from my staircase, back to the bare wood, in order to stain it....what's the best or quickest way to remove the old gloss?

Sadly buying a new staircase isn't an option

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

What I find is the quickest way of removing old paint is by use of a heat gun and a tool made by chemically combining a single edge razor blade and a pair of needle nose style locking pliers.

1. Buy a heat gun WITH ELECTRONIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL. This will cost you more than an inexpensive electric heat gun with only a Hi, Lo and Off temperature setting, but it will allow you to remove paint rapidly without scorching the wood. Try to get a tool that's light in weight so it's not a hassle to work with all day.

2. Take a single edge razor blade and grip it firmly in a pair of needle nose style locking pliers. Now dull the front of the blade because otherwise the sharp edge will gouge the wood. If you have a belt sander, just push it face first into the rotating belt to put a blunt front on that razor.

3. Hold that tool in a leather gloved hand (cuz it'll get pretty toasty) and heat the paint with the heat gun while shaving the paint off with the blunt front razor.

4. Another good tool that can be used with a heat gun to remove paint is one of those Sandvik paint scrapers with the replaceable tungsten carbide blades. Their all-metal construction makes them suitable for this kind of work, and the tungsten carbide blade is sharp enough to so some serious scraping, but not sharp enough to gouge the wood unintentionally.

I used to muck about with paint strippers, but since I decided to try a razor in a pair of Vice Grips I find the work goes so much faster and easier I don't even consider chemicals any more.

The more you dull the razor, the more confidence you have that you won't gouge the wood unintentionally.