Thanks Glenn. I bought a clear shellac today. What's the best way to apply it, with a lintless shirt or a brush?

You can apply the shellac to the cabinet with a good brush. Apply in two thin coats. Let dry two or three hours between coats then rub down with 0000 steel wool and wax. This should give you the finish you are looking for.

Not true. You can't lump all poly's into the same group.

Shellac is going about it the hard (old) way, and the finish won't be nearly as nice if the application isn't near perfect. Shellacing is more labor intensive and not nearly as forgiving. There's a better option in terms of appearance and durability.

Wipe On Poly (satin) from Min-Wax. Pour a little onto your work and rub into your wood with a cloth until nearly dry. Second coat can be applied (direct w/o sanding) when dry, which is normally about an hour in good conditions. Subsequent coats dry quicker than the first if you want more than two. I sand only to remove any dirt/dust in the finish- using a fine Scotchbrite. This is usually not necessary as the hand rubbing pretty much eliminates the dust, unless you are drying in dusty conditions. Brushed on shellac will have dust which then needs to be removed. Shellac application requires a fair bit of experience to eliminate the dry areas at the end of strokes. Not so with the hand rubbed poly.

This finish is really close to a hand rubbed oil piece. No grain fill like you would imagine with a sprayed two-part poly. I've used it for restore's and new custom pieces. The only drawback is that it "yellows" the new woods slightly. In that case sprayed lacquer is the answer.

Try a small piece using both products. You'll put that shellac back on the shelf.

Nice job on that! Looks great!

Thank you. I am going to do the shellac this weekend possibly. Hope it turns out well!

Kudos to you...beautiful job.

Thank you. It has been a long process.

Thank you. We decided not to try to replace any of the broken wood. I think it adds character.

Thank you. This is actually my first time doing anything like a restore or reconditioning. I was amazed at how well it turned out.

Thank you. It has been a long process. Next thing to do is to remove the cast iron, try to get some of the rust off, and paint it.