I haven't done a lot of finishing, so I'm learning new things with every project. I just finished building and finishing a small table with wiped-on BLO, padded shellac, and buffed-out paste wax and thought I would mention a few things I learned.

Do finish end grain first - the end grain soaks up finish like a sponge. Any drips or runs from the other faces will create a noticable contrast with the rest of the end grain face if it's bare.

Don't sand shellac until it's cured - wait at least eight hours before sanding. I didn't, and it created a lot of white powder that settled into the grain and looked bad. A couple heavy coats of shellac was enough to dissolve the particles and they eventually disappeared, but it was difficult to apply that way with the pad.

Do thin shellac for padding - I followed the instructions to thin the shellac to a 2 lb. cut and it went on really nicely. Previously I'd tried it without thinning and it tended to get gummy.

Overall, it turned out nicely. The results would certainly be better next time, but I was generally pleased with how the project turned out.

I also thought I'd share this photo I took of some Brazillian Cherry with and without BLO applied. The difference was surprising to me, enough so that I wanted to take a picture. The top is before, the bottom after. It dramaticized the grain and created a really rich color.