Refinishing the Hanging locker wooden door slats

[britinusa]

I'm refinishing the interior of Eximius, just done the Galley Drawer Cabinet, turned out really nice.
Next project is the Door on the front of the hanging locker ( just aft of the Nav Table )

But how to refinish the slats?

The Galley Drawer Cabinet was pretty easy, just sand it down to remove 36 years of previous finishes and then apply 3 coats of Water Based Polyurethane.
But sanding those slats, that's a challenge, anyone done it or knows how?

Thanks.
Paul

[Craig Illman]

I stripped them with a heat gun, then sanded.

Craig

[britinusa]

Thanks Craig. I have a heat gun :)

Here's how the galley drawer cabinet turned out.

The cutlery drawer is next, then the slatted door.

[melp64]

Bigger question is where do you get compressed natural gas at. What I did for the slats on the doors was I scrubbed them with turpentine and a stainless steel scrubby, then applied varnish with real lite coats or you'll get runs.

[WTunnessen]

Used a random orbital sander to get 80% of the slats sanded on both sides.  Then hand sanded the areas where the sander did not reach. Seemed to work well and did not take too long.

[britinusa]

The stove was modified for Propane before we purchased the boat.

[KWKloeber]

But sanding those slats, that's a challenge, anyone done it or knows how?

Paul consider getting a multitool w/ hook n loop sanding pad on it. 
My Hart MT (BTW made by Milwaukee!) came with one but you can do an add-on accessory (as I did for my corded HorrorFright MT.)   

It can reach deeper in between the louvers unlike mouse or square-pad palm sanders.


There's pad types that can reach deeper but their thickness could be a limiting factor to fit between the louvers.

[britinusa]

Good idea Ken.

Paul

[dfloeter]

Almost all the original varnish on ours came off with a scraper.  The varnish was failing in small round areas and lifted very easily.