Stripping my A7 825 cabinets?

[FriendlyVolcano]

I'm planning on refinishing my newly acquired 825 cabinets that someone decided to slap flat black paint all over. The cabs are mostly intact, but will need some corner/edge repairs and screw holes filled.

I'd like to have them stripped first and someone recommended a local furniture stripper that does chemical stripping baths. Assuming I remove all insulation and seals (which I'd probably replace anyway) and remove he backs and bass ports, is there any downside to doing it this way? What about the glue etc? Anyone ever have experience with this? The stripper quoted $50 per cabinet which seems pretty reasonable.

BTW, Does any know if the factory Altec gray paint was oil based?

[GM]

Long ago I had some very nice, ornate built up doors off a local mansion and had them stripped. Bad, bad plan unless one likes to patch, reassemble hand crafted objects, so considering the [lack of] quality construction, materials so many of these and others cabs were made from, I would only use a heat gun, steel putty knife to soften/remove it, then maybe do any really stubborn patches by applying acetone or similar with a small paint brush to soften it.

Yes, air dry enamel. The color tint changed some over the decades and one was metallic, but ANSI-49 gray was used most as it was available OTC and in spray bombs.

GM

[FriendlyVolcano]

I kind of thought the baths might be a little harsh, but better safe than sorry. I tried a little patch with Dumond's Smart Strip, which is no VOC and goes on like shaving cream. I left it for 24 hours and all that came off was the black latex on top. The gray underneath was untouched, which led me to believe it was a tougher enamel. This is going to take a while....

[GM]

Lucky you! You might have some old enough to have air dried baking enamel in which case just strip off the black, patch if necessary, block sand with 400 grit and recoat.

GM