Here's the update. I tried brushing on the lacquer thinner to smooth out the finish, and it just didn't work very well. Some of the deeper crackled areas smoothed out a tiny bit, but certainly not enough that I would put a new layer of finish on them. So, on to plan B and stripping the whole top off. I'm still undecided about a finish. I think brushing lacquer is going to be too fussy and error prone for me. I thought about lacquer in the spray can, but wonder how many coats that would take. I'm guessing a lot. I had almost convinced myself to buy the Waterlox, but I've seen the varnish in a few videos, and it looks really, really dark. And much too reddish. Since I'm only refinishing the tops, I think I need something that leans towads amber. After lots of reading, the Sherwin Williams product is out. Many more negative comments online about this product, particularly as a wiping varnish, so I'm not even going to try it. The Cabot's products available at Lowes are all poly or spar. Of the choices available locally, this leaves poly or Formby's. I know many people have an issue with Formby's over the whole misleading marketing of "tung oil" and all, but really, what about the product itself? Does anyone have experience with this? Application? Durability? What color is it? Repairs and touch ups? If I use a coat of shellac on the top after stripping, can I apply ANY finish on top of that? BTW, my set of unfinished chairs was delivered. The plan is to sand (gently), stain, assemble (with added glue in all appropriate joints), then finish. Any other suggestions or tips?

OOh, Allison, my table top looks almost identical to your "before" pic so you have given me hope! Thanks. Now, they made me a NEW "old" table. They did NOT use the maple top. Maple does not take stain very well and wouldn't get as dark as I wanted. busybee3, the places in the close up that look like "burn marks" are the gouges. They stained darker than the top of the wood. I don't remember what they used to seal, but it made a stink for a few days after. It was not a shiny finish - matte. I never use shiny. Our hardwood floors were finished with tung oil because I wanted no shine whatsoever. My island (antique pine) was finished with Good Stuff For Wood. Not sure why they didn't use it on the table too. I will take a better picture of the top, but I'm running late so I cant do it now.

Hi all, I am working on refinishing a banister and am looking for advice on the right approach to the project. Starting Point The banister currently is covered by paint on the lower portions and balusters and sealed varnish on the handrail. There are nicks, small areas of damage, and larger gouges in the handrail that will need to be filled or addressed in some way. Section of banister pre-work Example of gouge (post vanish removal) that was previously filled in with mismatched filler Objective My goal is to repaint everything that is currently brown to white and revarnish the handrails to a lighter color (if possible, open question). I'd also like to repair the minor damage and gouges in a way that minimizes being able to see these imperfections in the final state. Recommended Process I've been told to use a stripper to remove the paint and the varnish which I've mostly completed for one section of the banister that you can see below. In general, the process I've been told to follow is: (1) Strip away what's there (2) Clean any residual material with a scrubbing pad or metal brush (3) Sand everything (120 grit) For the portion of the banister to be painted (4) Perform repairs where needed (5) Prime everything that will be repainted (6) Sand again (240 grit) (7) Paint For the portion of the banister to be varnished (handrail) (4) Perform repairs where needed (5) Sand again (240 grit) (6) Paint Current state of the first banister length I'm working on stripping Open Questions (the first batch) Any input on the process outlined above in terms of how to go about this project or the order of operations? My biggest challenge thus far are the small details and features (as small as a quarter-inch of working space in some areas). I can deal with that for the current stripping process but when it comes to sanding, how can I efficiently sand this down while dealing with those details. All the automatic sanders I've seen are too big for the job, are there other tools I could use for this? Thank you for any input or ideas!

Looks like a nice table. You'll have to sand everything to get the old finish and stain off prior to refinishing, and that task will be difficult on the curves parts of the base - difficult but doable if you're patient. As far as filling gaps - are you referring to the vertical joints in your second photo, or the small gouges? Either way, I'd probably not use any filler if it was my table. Instead, I'd sand everything, possibly stain if you don't like the natural color, and use a clear wipe-on satin finish (I prefer oil-based poly but many other options exist). Small gouges will be visible but not nearly as obvious if you adequately remove that dark finish.