In Part 1 we applied chemical stripper to the dresser and drawer boxes, and then power-washed the surfaces to remove the residue.

We let everything dry in the garage overnight, positioning a couple of fans to blow air over all the parts.

After drying, there was some white "sludge" residue on many areas.

The next day I started sanding the larger surfaces with a random orbital sander and 60 grit sandpaper. The "sludge" came off really easy.

I realized that these little white plastic drawer guides could be removed with a small prybar.

This is a Fein Multimaster, a fairly expensive tool at $200.

I installed the sanding head and stuck a piece of 80 grit hook-and-loop sandpaper to it.

I also used the Fein Multimaster on the face frame. This worked better than a random orbital sander... it didn't round off the wood.

Note that the head of this tool rotates back-and-forth a very slight amount, so it can leave scratches across the grain, which is undesirable.

Hand sanding with a sanding block and 80 grit sandpaper also did a pretty good job, and removed any cross-grain scratches caused by the Multimaster.

The Multimaster worked great for sanding into the corners, but it left some scratches across the woodgrain.

I didn't care about cross-grain scratches on the inside surfaces of the face frame, where they won't be seen. However, on some furniture or cabinets, such areas might be visible, so further sanding would be a good idea.

The Fein Multimaster also worked well for sanding the flat surfaces on the face frame.

To sand the lower sections, I found it easier to work when the dresser was laying on it's back. I just tipped the dresser over and laid it on a pair of folding benches.

This is the Fein Multimaster with the optional profile sanding head.

There are several different shapes of rubber backing pads that can be used for different contours.

I used the Multimaster to sand the concave parts of the legs.

At this point I realized that the dresser had metal glides, which can scratch hardwood floors. So I pried off the glides with a tack puller.

These glides are just small steel cups that are hammered into the bottom of the legs. Later I'll replace these with new plastic glides.

Sanding The Grooves:

I wrapped a piece of sandpaper around the tip of a 6-in-1 painter's tool. A dull putty knife would work just as well.

I pushed the putty knife into the grooves and pulled it along. This worked quite well for sanding deep into the grooves. I used 100 grit sandpaper and it did a good job, but sometimes coarser sandpaper might be needed if the wood is particularly hard or the finish is stubborn to remove.

I sanded the drawer boxes in my basement. I used a plastic folding table with a rubber sanding matt to keep the drawers from sliding around.

The tools I used:

• A random orbital sander with an 80 grit sanding disc,
• Three sandpaper-holding pads (about $4 at Harbor Freight Tools),
• A small block of wood to wrap sandpaper around,
• A medium-fine sanding sponge,
• A brush.

The first areas I sanded were the back sides of the edges of the drawer faces. I used 100 grit sandpaper wrapped around a block of wood.

On the sides it was necessary to sand across the grain. Cross-grain sanding is almost always avoided, but in this case I did it because the scratches won't be seen.

My goal here is to remove any residue from stripping, so the stain penetrates into the wood properly.

Some of the drawers still had some residue from the stripping process...

...which was easily removed by the random orbital sander.

I sanded the other sides of the drawer box and the face with 80 grit sandpaper on the random orbital sander.

Then I sanded the inside surfaces with the random orbital sander. However, this machine cannot reach all the way into the corners.

Close-up shot of the unsanded areas in the corners.

So I used a sanding pad with 100 grit sandpaper to sand into the corners.

Then I repeated the procedure with 120 grit sandpaper wrapped around the block of wood.

Inspecting The Surface:

I used a bright flashlight shining sideways across the wood to examine the scratches.

Shining a light nearly parallel with the surface is a good way to find the blemishes and flaws in the surface.

The worst scratches were in the spot inside the red circle, which can be seen below.

A closer view:

These were some pretty heavy scratches.

To fix this problem, I repeated the entire sanding procedure: Random orbital with 80 grit, hand-sanding with 100, 120 and 150 grit. I inspected the surface after each step to make sure the biggest scratches were being removed.

I sanded the contoured edges of the face with 100 grit sandpaper and a block of wood. I did this mainly to clean up the wood in the sharp inside corner near the edge.

On the sides of drawer face I had to sand across the grain.

After this I sanded the ends parallel to the grain, using short strokes with a "pulling" motion. This removed the cross-grain scratches.

Then I sanded the rounded edges with a sanding pad, which is soft enough to conform slightly to the curved contour.

I also sanded the edges with a fine-grit sanding sponge.

Finally, I sanded the rest of the drawer box with the fine-grit sanding sponge.