Want refinish old floor?

That's a really tough call. Sounds like a really cool old floor too. Have you tried Citristrip? Or having professionally stripped, then you take it from there and refinish on your own?

I purchased a house that had pine floors. First of all, pine is a soft wood that can only be refinished once. After that it will begin to reduce the strength and integrity of the wood. Be very careful about removing the finish with sanding or wire brush.

One of the rooms I had was painted barn red on the floor. I pour stripper about 1/8" thick and let sit. As it began to work and gum up, I used a floor scraper to remove the residue. It had 7 layers of flooring on top that I removed to get to the red. Some of the flooring was nailed down with galvanized staple nails. After a few years, we ended up putting oak on top of it because the boards were so old and had cured which left rather large cracks between the boards so air would pass through, even after sealing the crawlspace.

Kleen Strip works well. The secret is to let it sit for at least a half hour, keep it wet with stripper, then use a putty knife to scrape it up . Put the scrapings in an old tin garbage can. Were gloves and eyewear. Only work in 3' sections. You don't use a sander until most all the paint is up. Then go over stubborn areas with a wire brush or steel wool. Wash down with lacquer thinner, then sand. Should be ready to stain and or finish.

Sounds like you could give up and cover it with a floating floor