I forgot to say..

[toycarver]

I'm going to refinish an old lawyer's bookcase. It is a light blonde color with a varnish (I think). It has water spots on the top, most of which I just took out with a palm sander. I'm wondering if I can use a gel stripper on the rest of the case to take the varnish off? Once it is ready to stain, I'm going to stain it a darker color, walnut perhaps.
Any suggestions on how to best strip the varnish & old stain away? ...maybe there is a better website? Thanks...

I will be using a 'prestain' before I put the walnut stain on...

I refinish alot of furniture, I'm slowly doing away with all the modern pressed wood junk we have. I use the gel type stripper with a hard plastic scraper to remove the varnish and most of the stain underneath. I've found that metal scapers/putty knives scratch and gouge the wood to easy!

I also save all of my saw dust and wood chips/shavings to rub down the piece I working on. This helps remove any stripper and also pulls a little more of the stain out.

Trying to sand it alone would cost you a fortune in sandpaper as the varnish clogs up the grit extremely fast!

[toycarver]

Interesting about using sawdust & woodchips to rub it down with.

It really works good! The sawdust and chips also work good for patching bare spots in the lawn. Sprinkle a few grass seeds, cover with a little sawdust, and water. It keeps the moisture in and the birds out, and doesn't have to be raked up like straw does, also decomposes fast!