I'd ask why you need to remove the paint... to make it lighter or are you just trying to change the look? I've tried sanding off paint before, and it's really easy to sand too far into the blank and weaken it. If you just want to change the look, you can always paint over it again. If you want a raw graphite look, you could try sanding the paint off with a high grit paper. I don't know how stripper would affect it...