hello there all! i have been fighting with every finish trying to make friends with one . at the moment im back to poly i have used southern and wells tung oil oli/varnish blends and poly as well as shallac.

I have run into so many problems with all of them. I have a book i use as a guide by bob flexnal i think is his name.

My question is and this seems to be true for poly and shallac (not that i have figured out how to get a good laydown on shallac yet) if i use a high gloss finish i am learning to finish the finish i can get  near to acceptable finish with no rubbing but as u know it has small imperfections and bumps. so i move to the next step :

i now sand the finish to remove bumps with a 320 grit paper i try this with and without mineral oil.

i get mixed results with this as i cut through by the time it looks even.

next i have been using a mid grit pumis stone that is from rockler it claims to be around 600 grit paper. this seems to finish with a satin/flat .

now i use what was in the rockler kit for the last fine rottenstone rubbing. after i start in with this i can manage to get to a sheen tht is not = the look of the poly before i touch it to make it smooth it is a lower sheen. along with the sheen not looking good there is a cloudy look to the whole thing but i know its not the finish because that was clear as day when i started. it seems and i dont know if this is helpfull but if i glare at a very low angle it looks like a mirror and if i look at 30-40 degree angle it looks cloudy to me. i do know to let last coat cure before doing this for 4 days to 2 weeks is best but even then i get same results. If anyone has any advice of a finish to try or a way to do this please let me know im needing to walk out of my shop 2 times a day frustrated atm !