[ODPILOT]

I've done research since I posted this question on oil or water based stains. It seems they did use some sort of colored lacquer spray on these 1950's units. When I used a gel type paint remover and a scraper, it produced a blondish colored yucchy slurry - so all the paint must have been sitting on top of the wood. I don't know how possible it will be to duplicate tinted lacquer process - so I'm going to stain it and it seems that a water based stain is less smelly, less toxic and better to use on wood that has already been painted or stained. Will post a pic when I'm done. thanks