I have a bowl my parents' asked me to refinish. My uncle, who lives in Hawaii, gave it to them years ago. It is labelled on the bottom with what I assume is the maker and the wood, which is monkey pod. It has a lot of build up on it and some scratches, which appear to be primarily in the finish. It seems to me to be shellac, but frankly, that is a poorly educated guess.
Any suggestions about how I should tackle this thing? I'm relatively new to woodworking, so advice on both stripping it and applying a finish would be appreciated.
I can post a picture of the bowl if that might help.