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Thanks.
I suspect it's pretty thin veneer too as I don't think it's a high quality piece. I'll be going the wire wool route, definitely. And you think to strip the varnish totally? Rather than just get it smooth?Not really looking for a piano finish. Was thinking to use Briwax on it, with shellac sanding sealer where it's bare.
Also do you think Autosol is too harsh to clean up metal details? Look like tarnished bronze, might've been brass. Just y'know, I already have some of that for bike bits...
hoefla-
Apparently brass cleans well with some sort of lemon juice mix. Not used it myself but seen it done with great results.
The main reason I would strip the top is to get a consistent colour. If you don't remove the existing stain and varnish it will be difficult to match. I guess it could be the varnish that's colouring the piece but usually it's a wood stain that creates the colour and the varnish/polish sits on top. It sounds as though you'd be happy with it being smooth and shiny though so maybe a full restoration is too much.
Airhead
It's a veneer so you need to be careful with any sanding. In the past I've got away with a rotary sander removing all the varnish and applying a wood stain plus a few coats of table top worthy varnish, all water based. You can remove the varnish with paint stripper and wire wool/blades if you are worried about sanding.
Don't expect a perfect finish but you can get a good finish with hand tools and stain/varnish applied with a buffer (folded cotton rags). If you use a power tool start with 80 or 120 grit and go very carefully over the whole piece then come down to 320/400 grit via 180/240/280 to avoid swirls.
It's a light touch job. I've not done it with stripper and wire wool but I know a lot of people do it that way.
You can use a grain filler to cure the open grain. I've avoided it in the past but if you want piano finish then that's the way to do it. You mix it up and pull it across the grain then fine sand it.
Problem is you'll buy enough materials to do 5 cabinets and it costs 5x what you need.