My daughter and son-in-law just traded tables with us. She received an old walnut farm table that I bought 35 years ago when she was born. My wife and I got their table which was a custom made Robert Bergelin (former furniture company near Hickory/Morgantown, NC). It has been out of business since 2011? Can't find any updated contact info for anyone there.
It is a large oval cherry table(1.5-2" thick). It has 3 additional leaves that can expand it to probably 12 feet. It has double pedestals and is large and heavy. My wife and I are happy with the trade.....BUT, there are a couple of places(1 sq ft or so) where my two wonderful grandkids somehow wore the finish completely off( yes, off) I can see bare cherry. I don't quite understand how it wore off....I would have assumed that it was a tough finish of some sort. My issue is I really prefer to try and repair this instead of a total refinish. The top has all the wonderful (scoops, dings, gouges, etc.) that were a part of its beauty. I do not want to start sanding all of that and end up with a flat table. I also don't want to refinish 99% of the table because of 1%. Sooooooooooooooooooo, how can I test the finish and figure out what is on it? It does not look like a stained type of finish....just aged cherry. I have the top disconnected and on a large rolling table in the garage until I can figure out my best approach. Any suggestions would be appreciated.20170410_163407_1491856574978_resized.jpg20170410_163415_1491856572604_resized.jpg20170410_163422_1491856552099_resized.jpg20170410_163440_1491856549379_resized.jpg

Thanks,
Jim