Let me guess -- dark colored table, with a fairly glossy finish? Modern finishes are tough, but they're no match for ceramic plates, glasses and silverware. Light scuffs that can be seen in glancing light are difficult to avoid. Is there anything I can do to protect it in the future...? Coasters, placemats, tablecloths. Or, you can let go of it's perfect newness and let a patina develop. Wax can hide those light scuffs, but then you'll have to be more careful with glasses of icewater and such, which will leave (repairable) white rings.

So I'm back where I started, with poly. That's what I'm going to do. But first I'll remove the old shellac with denatured alcohol then apply a thin coat of new shellac. A light sanding, then a few coats of poly. I'm guessing some of you will recommend against this. I've read in some places that poly won't adhere well to shellac, but I've read in enough other places that it works just fine. I love the look of the shellac so I'm willing to risk it. I just don't think I'll get that same look with poly alone. The problem with the glass idea is that I change the size of the table somewhat frequently. I have 12 leaves, so it can go from a small table for four to enough room to seat 14 adults comfortably. I really like being able to just pop in a couple of extra leaves if friends or family come for a meal, or take them all out if we need floor space. I can't thank you all enough for your help and advice. I've learned so much in this whole process! I'll post pictures when it's done. :)

"Not looking to refinish it, maybe just add another coat over whatever is there." What you have is 30 years of various commercial and home-made polishes and waxes on top of the original finish. It usually doesn't work to apply another coat of anything because it dissolves into the old stuff and makes a gummy mess. They are veneered, so sanding is tricky. I would clean it thoroughly - first with water and a mild detergent (oil-free, not that Murphy's crap) and then with mineral spirits to get old dirt and crud off. Then wax it well with good furniture wax and enjoy it. Use place mats and hot pads to protect it, like any table, and don't let the kids use it for a craft table unless you cover it. A cheap clear shower curtain makes a good protector.

Well I can tell you a couple of things from experience (as a furniture repair technician) * Had a customer that "put on some poly" By the time she called me, about 20% of it was peeling off and the rest was a real pain to strip off. (She put it on because she wanted to change the sheen. What could have been a 30 minute rub-out job cost her hours of work of her and my time.) Poly has poor adhesion, but not unsurmountable with a proper bonding coat (e.g., shellac). It is more resistant to scratches, but less ability to be repaired when it does get scratched. * I went to a class on epoxy finishes. Enough experience, I'm not doing one. A professional custom furniture maker friend of mine took a job to do an epoxy finish on a bar top with embedded articles, I think it was tickets to race tracks, ball games or something like that. He ended up putting on three coats to get it to look good. He swore (at it) and said he'd never do another. There's always an issue with bubbles that don't come to the surface and it takes some special techniques to get them out. My instructor used a blow torch gently over the wet epoxy to get them to surface. You also have to do something special with the edges and corners. I've also repaired an epoxy finish that was scratched. Not fun. Rubbed it out but with a whole lot of effort. And if you even want to strip and refinish, good luck with an epoxy finish. * I've worked on some super tough catalyzed finishes. One that I recall got a chip in it. All the products and techniques that I use for touch up repairs did not work. The top coats just sat on top and the burn-in repairs did not bond. So it's not quite indestructible and definitely not repairable. * If you can live with cottage chic, maybe something like (pseudo) milk paint (lots of videos to watch on this site)