Removing varnish?

[Rob_H]

I have a very old oak chair which is almost black. The finish is too bright, at first I thought it was wax but it appears to have had some sort of finish under the wax like varnish - if not varnish a sort of hard finish which is a bit patchy in places . What should I use to restore it - varnish remover will be too harsh, i just need to cut it back a little and rewax but don't know what to use.

 

[matt]

Wire wool and meths maybe? If I could bear a 3 hour telephone conversation I'd phone my mum and ask her - she used to do this sort of stuff for a living.