Ting Oil?
 

Will this give good results after light sanding on a light colored (not sure what kind of wood) treadle base. If not what would you suggest?

Guess I can't spell in the am. I usually am on the forum late at night. Of course, I meant Tung Oil.

Yes, my DH refinished a treadle cabinet for me for Christmas and he only cleaned off all the old varnish with denatured alcohol and steel wool, sanded the whole thing, then used tung oil. It came out beautiful!!

I haven't refinished a sewing machine cabinet, but I made a Bartley reproduction Philadelphia Pie Crust table and they recommended Tung Oil for finishing. It's a lovely finish. It comes in Satin and Gloss. I used Satin. I rubbed it in with a cloth, no brush.

My 19 x 26 foot library has floor to ceiling oak bookshelves. I couldn't afford the furniture maker's price for giving them a hand rubbed tung oil finish so I did it myself. If you use just pure tung oil it's easy, the finish is wonderful, any future scratches, worn spots, etc. are easy to fix and the oil doesn't come off on fabric or books. BUT if you have an "overachieve-ing" moment and use the tung oil that has stain in it, REMEMBER that if you quit and then begin again another day, there is a good chance that changes in humidity, temperature, how you do what you're doing, etc. can cause a difference in the color of your project.

When I was doing what seemed miles of bookshelves, it took days. I quit at what seemed to be spots that would not show the stop/start as clearly. A sewing cabinet and drawers probably shouldn't present that sort of problem but life is dynamic and has surprises to offer.

We love the library some 30 years later. Now and then I use pure tung oil on it just because I can. The furniture guy also made my sewing center, my son's beds/armoires/nightstands wall, and the floor to ceiling cabinet doors in our great room. Now that I think of it, I've hand rubbed miles of oak with tung oil. You will love the look of it, the easy upkeep, and just plain using of it.

Pat

I play Native American Flute and most of the flute-makers I know use Tung Oil to finish their creations. Alas, it is not available in California (apparently because of some crazy environmental rule) so each time I go over to my place in New Mexico, I purchase several cans to bring back. It's getting extremely expensive, though.

You could also use a furniture grade wax. I use Briwax, it's wonderful stuff and doesn't disappear or need to be reapplied as often as tung oil does.