Removing varnish from stairs

[frustin]

I know this is going to take ages to do but i'd like to make my stairs look like this picture below:

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• frustin
• 5 Jul 2013
• 1

I think the handrail has been varnished a mahogany colour and the balustrades are an ebony colour.

Tomorrow I'd like to stair preparing the stairs. It currently has a varnish on it. I took some pictures of it below:

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• frustin
• 5 Jul 2013
• 1

Untitled

• frustin
• 5 Jul 2013
• 1

View media item 63408
I went in to B&Q this evening and a lady said that i need to get out some medium grit sandpaper and use some elbow grease.

I asked her about using a paint and varnish remover, but she said that that could cause problems when I varnish again (dark spots and light spots).

Are their any machine tools to use on the tight areas?

What grit sandpaper should I use?

 

[geraldthehamster]

What grit sandpaper should I use?

I'm not a professional decorator, but I'd start with 60 grit and work down to 120 for a fine finish.

Speaking personally, I'd reconsider my design options rather than start what will be a very faffy job. You could get a nice traditional Victorian effect by painting the spindles and stringer white, then going over the handrail and finials with several coats of thinned darker varnish, sanding between coats. Obviously that may not be what you want; it's just a suggestion

Cheers
Richard

 

[kbdiy]

Also you need to bear in mind that if already stained and varnished your stain will not penetrate through unless all the varnish is removed, which as said above, will be really fiddly in the tight corners and will end up looking patchy.

If you must then at least try it on a relatively discrete area so if you have to abandon it then it won't notice too much.