Apply a Finish

After repairing the shelf I moved to the lid.       There were a couple of deep scratches on the lid's top, so I sanded those out.  I left the curved sides alone since they were in good shape.

I next applied the Minwax Red Mahogony stain to all of the pieces.  Everything looks beautiful.  

I then brushed on a coat of shellac to all the pieces, sanded it with fine grit sandpaper, and then applied one more coat of shellac.  I was happy with the look, so I stopped at two coats.  On the legs and curved sides of the lid I used a spray sellac, not a brush on.  I also made sure to shellac the underside of the pieces to help seal in any of the "old" smell.  I did not shellac or stain any of the glue joints.

The shellac is available at Home Depot