Hey all you quilters working on sewing machine cabinets I have posted a tut on refinishing them using shellac since that is what is on the old vintage and antique treadles and other cabinets with age. You can test the finish by using alcohol on the old finish in a spot that can not be seen readily. If it desolves the finish after a minute of rubbing then it is shellac. If not it is lacquer or varnish. Lacquer can be desolved with acetone. If these two products don't desolve the finish then you have varnish. After stripping and staining you can use any one of the three for final finish. I recommend you use shellac for ease of use and dries to touch in 30 min or less so does not collect dust in wet finish. Lacquer is to difficult for the home owner to use and for health reasons.
If you want to restore instead of refinishing we will tackle this as need arises to repair a bad spot. This tut will be never ending because there are so many types of repair so will handle this by your questions as they come up. Glenn