Interesting info. I will be trying various other varnishes in coming months, 2 pack and other water based varnishes for other projects. I suspect 2 pack would have finished this cabinet project for me months ago!
Ive progressed with the poly though, as I've had no choice - I was in too deep.
I am getting to the point where Im happy with the results, which I will share on here when its done. Its not perfect, and it wont be, the surfaces arent perfectly flat, there are flaws, the gloss isnt as perfect as I'd like, but given its my first serious attempt I think its decent, and the defects are ones most people cant see.
Theres been many bumps in the road getting here, lessons learned etc. As ever, very grateful for all of the help and advice. Im proud of what Ive achieved, but boy, WHAT A LOT OF WORK!!!
Ive been used various sand paper grades, and trying to get the surfaces as fine as possible, then switching to t-cut, followed by a slightly less aggressive meguiars car polish. Its a LOT of work, particular the t-cutting, but it gets there. I've tried buffing wheels and so on, but they simply dont work well with t-cut and I need that level of abrasion.
Im really looking forward to being able to glue the damn thing together, and fit the deck and the electrics - which by far will be the easiest part of this project!
Adam