First .. i have refinished hundreds of pieces and have used grain
fillers , lacquer and once & a while poly . I use spray equipment .

I have a very huge antique oak buffet here now that someone had
refinished . Very professional strip job was done and stain color very
good. I cant tell what was used for a finish . Whatever it was it had to
be wiped on because it almost looks dry and nothing on the surface .

Beyond figuring out what that ?finish is my problem is the grain was not
filled at all and collects dust in the pits . This piece has massive
carvings all over it making it impossible to do any kind of grain
filling .
Are there any techniques these days to possibly do this without having
to strip it again .
My first thought was to clean it real good and apply repeated finish
till its better .. i cant rub out those carvings .

Thanks .