Refinishing a drop leaf table of my mum's years ago, it was a probably 2 pack lacquer finish, cellulose. I needed to because at aged 6 I'd managed to get a fork between the rosewood and the glass top
caused a bit of damage.
To remove it I used acetone, and to stop it evaporating off too quickly, because it does and pretty instantly, I placed a tea towel other the finish, then soaked it in acetone, then placed an opened out plastic bag over it to keep the moisture in the towel and stop it evaporating, which allowed the acetone to penetrate the finish. I repeated this several times to make sure I softened it all.
Then softened I used a cabinet scraper* to get the horrid sticky mess off, before sanding, wetting, more sanding, followed by more sanding before french polishing it .
*Stanley blades would probably be better in that theyre super cheap, easy to resharpen- blade down on a stone like youre blunting it, but the action produces a burr on the edge.
