Hope Chest and Old Desk

[Mytical]

I am thinking about restoring an old hope chest, and old school desk and putting them up for sale. Both are old, but the desk got some paint on it from our last painting job..so I will need to remove that paint. Any advice how to do it good but cheap?

Note : I was informed more of a trunk then a hope chest..

[Seshat]

Paint and varnish can be removed by sanding, heat, scraping, or chemically. Sanding is the most common.

Get a lead tester. They're cheaply available at any hardware store's paint aisle. If there's lead in the paint of either, you probably don't want to sand it off - seek the advice of the paint specialists at your hardware store. (Or if they seem to be underpaid & undertaught, go to a paint specialist store & ask there. Lead is not something to screw up with.)

If there's no lead, just remove most of the paint if you're going to repaint, or all the paint if you want to stain-and-polish. Sanding is usually an excellent method if you plan to repaint, as it prepares the surface nicely for repainting. You'll probably use the chemical method if you want to bring out the appearance of the wood with a stain-and-varnish method.

Carefully photograph everything from every angle. If desired, label things like pieces of brightwork.

Examine and remove all the brightwork. (Hinges, latches, etc.) Consider whether replacement is better or restoration is better. If you want to restore them, try cleaning them, and gently/carefully straightening bent parts.
If you want to replace them, replace all of the matching pieces. (Both handles of two. All eight corner pieces. Both hinges. Whatever you have.)
Take the screws that held them in to a hardware store, and replace with identical new screws of the same metal type.
Fill the screw holes with putty, leave to dry while you work on the joints.

Tag the pieces of brightwork to match the labels you applied on the photos.

Examine all the joints. If any joints are loose, study how the item is constructed. Take apart loose joints in what seems to be the reverse order of assembly, salvaging any bits that chip off or flake off as you do this.
Lightly sand the joint surface, remove any nails or screws. Fill screw holes with putty, leave to dry.
If any bits chipped or flaked off, stick them back in with putty.
Once the putty is dried, sand back until the puttied area is smooth and even with the neighbouring wood.

Make sure you have extra nails or screws of matching type, some clamps, and some scrap cardboard.
Smear some Aquadhere (or other clear-drying wood glue) onto the joint's facing surfaces, reassemble the joint. Wipe off the excess Aquadhere. If the joint didn't have a nail or screw, put some scrap cardboard where the clamp's jaws will be, and clamp the joint tight. (The cardboard prevents the clamp's jaws from denting the wood.)
If the joint did have nails/screws, nail or screw the joint together. (You can make a nail-holder by slicing halfway through a piece of scrap cardboard. Stick the nail into the gap in the cardboard, place it where you want it, hammer till the nail head is just barely touching the card. If you miss a hammer stroke, you probably won't dent the wood. Slide the cardboard out, finish hammering.)

Reassemble the rest of the joints. Do not replace the brightwork yet.
Sand joint meeting areas, making sure everything is smooth to its neighbour. Study everything: anywhere there's a dent, gap, or groove, fill with putty mixed with the sawdust that results from the sanding. (This should bring the colour closer to the neighbouring wood colour.)

Paint or stain the outside surfaces.

If you want to flock the inside of the hope chest, smear Aquadhere on the interior surfaces, carefully remove any that got where you don't want it. Shake flocking into the inside of the chest, making sure to get a nice thick coating everywhere you've smeared the glue. Leave to dry.
Check that the flocking is thick enough. If not, put a thin coating of aquadhere where the flocking is too thin, and only there. You may want to use a small brush.

If you don't want to flock the inside, paint or stain the inside surfaces as well.

Replace hinges and brightwork.

Admire.