So I took a few days off from blogging. My most loyal friend, Rex the dog, had to be put down due to illness and that was very hard emotionally,  also its varnish, varnish, and more varnish everyday seems about the same and the pictures from one cote to the next look the same.  I can only say so much about it. I can tell you that I start the process with interlux interstain and then interlux sealer and then petit high build varnish, then epifanes high gloss but isnt that what everyone uses?  I roll and tip my varnish cotes sanding between cotes with a soft 220 block or scotch brite pad and then higher grit the closer I get to the final cote. The painter will come to do the gold leaf lettering so i can have a minimum of 3 cotes of varnish over it.  It takes a long time because varnish doesn't dry very fast, and it has to be done in manageable sections keeping a wet edge.