Philip - a stripper you might use is peel-away. Works well. There is Peel Away 1 and Peel Away 6. We are using #6 with great satisfaction. It is a solvent with no Ethelene Chl. Great for when you're going to use clear finish. #1 is a water solvent w caustic base. It may discolor the wood & raise the grain. Obviously, since it's water base, it may also tend to raise the veneer! So that's why we use #1. We smeared it on, let it set overnight from a 1 pm application, & removed with a putty knife. We remove about a 1 sq ft area. Next take a damp sponge & add some water to it, and immediately work it some more with a rubbing pad until the wood is where we want it. Then we put a little more dampness on as we wipe it with "clean" sponge. Then move on. The results are consistent. We haven't tried it with paint, tho. If you need to use #1, I'd be cautious, trying it on an inconspicuous place first. I'd be happy if it just took the paint off, then use #6 for the rest. A friend who works at Woodcraft told me that Ethelene Chl will remove more of the dark gunk.
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