Question about a finish Norm used on an Old NYW video

Norm used poly at times, but it seems the point of the show was the "traditional" hand-applied shellac finish.  Alcohol would wreck both the shellac and the wax and the film would not wear very well.  Shellac's ability for 100% burn-in and high clarity make for a coating of great visual depth in the coating.  Mindful, of course, that a shellac finish, while somewhat fragile, can be restored with more shellac without going the full refinishing route.

I can't think of a situation where the average skilled woodworker would struggle to maintain a shellac finished table. 

I can think of plenty of issues (cup left for two days with a sweaty ring, for example, resulting in gray wood) for someone who is destined to use a table with a two part finish or at least polyurethane because they can chip concrete with flip flops. 

In the current environment, someone would probably pressure norm's producer to use some rebadged finish like total boat, labeled as a varnish sold at twice the cost of polyurethane with "polyurethane varnish" in the mice type. As in, people thought advertising was really something in the days of norm, but they'd never seen the affiliate marketing machine that's settled in now. 

Alan, what are your thoughts? I think he'd use shellac again. I think I wouldn't mind using shellac, but would have some level of indifference. if making the table for a relative, I'd use something else, but they'd scratch and dent that, too.

Years ago a relative described a finish-refresher she used on a dining table. Oak, I think. Over the years the mix has morphed into troublesome memory. I remember: real turpentine (unlike everyone else, I like it); but, the finish is really close to Sam Maloof's standard. And, you won't stub your toes kicking it. It's pretty tough.

I have it (hers) on an oak table that I managed to fill all those disgusting pores by rubbing with finish. Man! The longest finish job I have ever done. I stripped it a couple times before I was happy.

Finish refreshers are great. Years ago I read a couple of recipes for them that each included a solvent, an oil finish that would harden with exposure to oxygen, and a very fine abrasive such as ash from one cigarette. I also found that there's a commercially available product called a "White Ring Remover" that does the same thing. It's a soft cloth that already holds the oil and fine abrasive, so damaged areas can be "revived" by rubbing until the oil penetrates and fills the damaged areas that cause the white look and the abrasive removes the sharp edges of any scratches and adds some shine to the surface. It takes a lot of rubbing and the entire surface needs to be shined up so there isn't just one spot that looks different. The surface feels oily for a week or so until the oil hardens but after a little bit of use the surface starts losing some of its shine as the tiny scratches from use start to build up again. There are still visible traces of the damage that can be seen if you're looking for them but on older pieces there are all sorts of similar things and we call it patina.

A finish refresher won't completely restore the piano finish on a Steinway but on my hundred-year-old upright piano it can make new scratches almost disappear so they blend in with all the old scratches.