:okay, I was so impressed with the bakelite and Brasso clean up I learned in an email chain that I decided to pose this question regarding wood refinishing. I like big floor models and console set radios. Despite there weight and size I managed to aquire several monsters like the Majestic 92 and General Electric model 71. I mention these because they had and have respectively a dark brown- black finish that hides the wood grain. The staircase in my house had this aged varnish as well. What I do in a case like this is completely strip off the finish with a citris based stripper. Then after a few days of drying , sanding , staining, ect- (the process that takes at week or longer) I put on a clear coat. I have a few wood models though that the finish is not bad enough to strip off and I plan on using terpentine and a 000 steel wool to clean it up. Any better ideas?