[goat granny]

*** with 200 or higher grit wet-or-dry, but do it dry. Then, choose a nice stain. If it needs “filling”, I cannot recommend a filler and hate filled wood. But, some will do it. I like the gelled stains because they don’t have sealers and you can put on multiple coats to “tune” the color.

Great advice, its been so long since I stripped any wood, after stripping I would use a stain as close to the wood color that I could find...after it dries I then use Liquid Gold. don't use any paste wax, it builds up and is nasty. like you I hate filler, you can never get it to match.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> If it needs “filling”, I cannot recommend a filler and hate filled wood...

If you need a filler, thoroughly clean your dust-catcher on your orbital sander and sand the surface until you have it nice and smooth. Then, empty the dust-catcher into a jar, add enough varnish to mix it into a thick paste, then enough thinner to dilute it into a consistency you can work with as a filler.

By making your own filler in this manner, your filler will be an exact averaged-out color match. Use a putty knife to apply.

When it’s all dry, sand again with very fine wet&dry (wet or dry) then finish as per normal.

[Dutchboy88]

Haven’t come across Liquid Gold. Is that a hard finish or an oil? Sounds interesting...where do you get it?