There are a thousand ways to screw up a finish job and ten ways to get it right. First one is to take your time. Second is to take no shortcuts. Third is to use the best sand paper you can find and go slow. Fourth is to let your finish dry completely between steps. Five if you have a problem starting over is often the only real choice. Six no matter how hard you try you will see some minor flaw in every job. Just has to be that way because you spend countless hour in close contact with the job. Seven is to let the stock cure for two to four weeks before you evaluate the job. The finish needs to get hard, stabalize and then you can lower the shine factor if you like. Eight the only fast finish is one you will later remove and swear to never try again. Nine if you and your shop are not clean never start a job. Ten is that every stock is different and you can learn or forget something on each. So I make notes as I go. Like grip area is very dense, closed grain that slowly takes I. Finish. Or this area is a sponge so cut the finish the first several coats to limit darkness of grain. And some woods will just not take a great finish if they are four different types of grain going in three different directions. Do not ask my how I learned this, it hurts still.
