I purchased a very nice vintage dining table and chairs, the chairs are all fine, no repairs needed.

The table (belonged to a family with 10 kids?) and shows it. Scratches galore. Nothing super deep, just lots of scratching. I also believe that it's a veneer over solid wood. and I know that veneer normally cannot be sanded without ruining the finish...BUT...

Can the finish itself be stripped and if this is done, will that be enough to remove the "appearance" of scratches?

I'm playing around with the leaf to figure out what might actually work.

I dont need it to look brand new. That's not likely to happen. I would like it to be less noticeable.

I've been thinking that maybe if I strip the surface and then restain it slightly darker and then do a thick poly coating? would that work???

this table will be for resale in my booth and I need to get it done NOW, so that it can possibly be sold for Christmas.

These are the pics of it in the CL ad and it doesn't really show the scratches...I will try to get some of the top specifically