redwood trim in 100 year old building how to sand & remove paint

[mjb]

I have a 102 year old building. Some of the woodwork is painted, some is possibly clear coated with something that doesn't peel., maybe a wax? It is ALL redwood! It is a deep red tone now stained a cheery or possibly mahogany. Sorry I don't know much about wood. I used chemical remover in some places and heat in others to remove what I have so far. I would like to switch to sanding if possible for the rest of the project if I can figure out what abrasives to use. I have picture rail, 8 in. baseboard with concave surfaces (so does the picture rail) and of course the door trim and jambs. Stairs as well.I have an RO 90 sander and dust collector. Can FOG help me out with what abrasives I should be using. Of course there are about 10 coats of paint on everything. Also, on what I have already sanded, there are small bits of paint I can't get off, what should I use to get those off? Perhaps a mineral spirit? I ultimately would like to clearcoat the redwood and be done. I really don't want to do all this paint stripping then paint over it unless I have too. Thank you in advance for any suggestions. I  only have computer access at night and early morning (PST) I will also try and take some pictures today and post those as well. I am new here as you can tell.  [eek]

 

[lwoirhaye]

If you're not careful you'll turn the profiles to mush sanding redwood.  Once you get down to the bare wood, be real careful.  You can make custom sanding blocks out of auto body filler to preserve the profiles.  Paint and varnish are harder than redwood so that can cause problems in removing it because the sections of bare wood get chewed up while sanding the paint.  Of course your redwood is old so it may be harder than what is available today.    I wouldn't want to do it.  Chemical strippers are the way to go, imo,  but it's still easy to gouge up soft woods scraping the strippered paint off and it's hard to get it out of inside corners. 

Personally I'd  prep and faux paint it to look like wood.  It's faster to do it that way and the results more predictable.