Both feet w/no experience
I decided I wanted an art deco kitchen and bespoke cabinets. The bottom cabinets are actually antique buffets. It also includes 2 radio cabinets for plant stands, and a modified waterfall vanity as a chair for my Dad. This was all great when I thought the contractor would be doing all of the work, but when I hadn't yet decided on the staining, he left me a couple of helpers for stripping and has checked out until that's done, and the colors are decided. The radios were easy, even with filler, bondo, and replacing a few pieces of veneer. I figured I'd learn my techniques on those, then I would be a complete master (not really). I figured I would have a pretty good idea, though. Then we started removing the finish on the other pieces. I have a gorgeous crotch mahogany buffet with the finish of a tank. So far we've used acetone, denatured alcohol, (which worked the best, liquid sandpaper, and actual sandpaper, first by hand, then with Festools. I decided to tackle the drawers with Strip ease chemical stripper first, then get a roadmap for a more efficient finish removal, so others could help.
I think I messed up. First, it was around 67 degrees when I started, but the temp dropped to around 50. I got one little bubble within 5 min. then nothing. I kept checking and doing swipe tests. I covered it with a trash bag pressed to it (the stripper was really thick) and put it in the sun. All told, I ended up letting the stripper sit for 3 hours. Good news, the veneer didn't let go. I was consulting with Gemini's AI throughout. At about the 2 hour mark, she suggested that I lightly craze the finish with 80 grit. I did so very lightly, then let it sit for another hour, checking every 10 to 15 minutes. I then cleaned it off with mineral spirits, took a picture for Gemini. She said to keep at it with the mineral spirits, and scrub lightly with my scotch pad (didn't have time to grab my 0000 steel wool) and brass scrubber. Some of the varnish came off, but this is what the drawer looks like now with a fresh wipe of mineral spirits. It's super dark and muddy without. Have I messed up? It's not down to the veneer, yet, but I don't want to make a problem worse by choosing to do the wrong thing. Ideas?