After the initial stripping process, I was left with a fairly clean piece, but much of the grain was still filled with paint and there was some deep staining from the original finish. Since this was not meant to be a museum restoration, I decided that the best possible finish was going to be achieved by using a wood bleach that opened that grain and allowed me to get a fresher finish.
Below you'll see how the piece looked in the midst of the staining process. The natural wood grain was coming out much clearer
Once again, the feet presenting a big challenge. Lots of detail work and some tedious finishing. I did mark the feet (numbered 1 to 4) and that really helped in the reassembly process later on
(continued in next post)