Bill,
Obviously, all traces of the previous finish would have to be removed to give the new finish a chance to adhere and survive.
There are chemical strippers available, but they might affect painted areas on the interior of the bed, or the metal strips, if they are painted.
If you are 'real serious' about this, removing the wood and refinishing it is the absolute answer...but probably tons of work.
At the very least, I would remove the metal strips and either chemically strip the remaining finish, or mechanically..sand..remove it.
There are lots of nooks and crannies for stripper to hide in and botch the new finish. I see a 'in bed fix' as very work intensive.
The work that is put into redoing the pretty bed wood would be directly proportionate to your 'anal-factor'.
Stuart
