Table question
 

I am cleaning up a table I have with mild damage at the hinges on the inside. My best guess is someone tried to put something too heavy on the lid when it was opened. It's strong enough but the wood was splintered a bit so I sanded it to smooth it. I stained the new wood to match but need to put a finish in that area. I'm not sure what to use. I tried the alcohol test and don't think it was finished with Shellac. Does that mean I can use Polyurethane? Can I just do a spot or do I have to do the entire flip open lid to match it? What if it has been waxed before? Will I have issues?

Hmmmm. Welp, I have about as much patience as would fit in a thimble so I went with Deft lacquer. The test showed it wasn't shellac. I cleaned up the surrounding area with mineral spirits first and used an artist sized brush to give a coat to the area. The directions said to try a small area first to see if it "wrinkles". I haven't seen wrinkles yet. It also says I can re-coat in two hours so we'll see what happens.

I love that!! Are you sure you aren't talking about me??? :D

Be sure to photograph your progress and the finished table. Will be fun to see how it turns out. I have no experience in redoing one but would like to learn.

Lacquer was a good choice. A lot of commercial furniture is finished with spray lacquer. There's a good chance the original finish is lacquer too.
I'm not a huge fan of polyurethane finishes. They wear well but can be more difficult to repair than traditional finishes.
Rodney

A lot of the old finishes were a varnish of some kind. Just another idea to sort thru.

I put a third coat on tonight and will check on it in the morning. It looks like it will match in good 'nuff. This isn't really a complete re-do. I have had tables come in and clean up well with Skip's recipe for cleaning. I think it's pinned here somewhere.

This is actually a table that I would replace if I find the one I want. It's getting cleaned up to stand in for awhile.