Home improvement help

[cattb]

There are heat guns available for stripping paint, I have never used one myself. 20 years ago I refinished some kitchen cabinets made from  birch with chemical remover and elbow grease (sanding). They came out real nice when finished. I don't think I would do it again though, at least not for birch.

If I did it again I would try the heat gun, the chemicals, rubbber gloves, smell gets old fast.

[Dichotomy]

35 years building and restoring custom homes...here is my two cents...

First off what is under the paint?

one layer of what appears to by acrylic paint

What are the cabinets made of?

looks like some pressboard construction.. fairly cheaply built

Is the finish factory enamel or some schleps attempt to cover over the original wood finish with some crappy paint and brush work?

schleps

Are the drawer fronts solid wood or veneer and tape ?

Solid wood.. soft

Are the doors paneled veneers with taped edges or are they solid wood rail/frame and panel inserts or are they pressure molded products?

Pressure molded

What is the existing finish...is it latex over oil or latex over laquer or oil over OR WHAT?

Looks like latex over latex

What is under that existing finish...is it hardwood or soft wood...does it even look good when you strip a sample section..

Can't really tell I've got a broken door I can strip and look at

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Before you go down this road...make sure you know exactly what your dealing with...and forget anybody who said sandblast or sand...those guys have no clue what they are talking about...you will blow right through the thin veneers in a second...

I deal with powdercoated steel on a daily basis.. pretty much knew that

Tip:

Stripping cabinets to wood finish is normally ONLY worthwhile when the cabinets are older and made from real wood and are constructed using coped frames and solid laminated panels...if your dealing with anything but solid wood...its cheaper to just go and buy new boxes and install them yourself...

Sanding or stripping cheap plywood boxes is an utter and complete waste of time...

I cannot count the times I have seen weekend warriors completely fail trying to strip cabinets with home owner strippers from places like Home Depot etc...only to further destroy the out come by attacking with an orbital sander...

It is EXTREMELY rare that any cabinet layered with paint is worth stripping...unless you live in a home at least 50 years old....and the cabinets were made the old school way before they invented cheap plywood...

We often strip old doors...vintage doors that are worth saving...and we do it by pulling the doors and the hardware on them and sending them to strippers who dip them in tanks of caustics...it is virtually the only time we ever consider stripping old paint from vintage and worthy elements...

Out

Oneway

Edit: If you want actionable intelligence on this question:

Take a picture of the cabs outside and in...and post it here...
Describe exactly what the existing finish is, and to the best of your ability ascertain what is under that
Find out what species of wood your attempting to uncover
Get a rough date of the manufacture of the cabinet

I'm guessing 1973 maybe 2 house was built in 73

Try to ascertain whether the cabs are custom or factory

factory

Once you do that you can only then begin to get 'advice'

Oneway see above.. budget is an issue and thanks sir.. I bought a quart of paint remover today and was going to test it in the next week.. Now I'm going to hold off