I have been given an old mahogany bowl circa 1940's / 50's it has an almost black finish on it from accumulated grime.
Obviously not a professional piece, there are clues! Actually its a bit ugly! with 12mm wall thickness, so I have scope without changing the actual shape to recut the surface.
So far I have cleaned it with white spirit which shows some mahogany trait rather than just black, My temptation now is to sand off the finish and also re-sand the bowl, going to cost in abrasive as it will clog quickly especially if it is varnish, the foot has some damage which I have scope to re-cut.
But before I do, I wondered if any of you had a better approach. It's not old enough to be a hands off minimal restoration, want it back to shiny new finish, and though it is not pretty it's a nice piece of timber that could do with being somewhere for another 50 years before it gets burnt.