ED65":1z4w5v2k said:
It's impossible to reliably tell one finish from another...by naked-eye examination.
Eh?
I could inspect a piece and put the finish into a family of finishes at the very least, but I know plenty of finishers and restorers who could, nine times out of ten, absolutely nail it with just one glance from the far side of the room. Good finishers generally earn a lot more than good cabinet makers, and their gift of an unerring eye is just one reason why.
The essential "brightness" of french polish is unmistakeable. The grain enhancing depth of oil finishes are a give away. The "weight" of varnish is pretty obvious. You should be able to spot a sprayed finish easily enough, and further distinguish between at least two or three sub divisions within spraying.
But of all the finishes the easiest to spot, by a country mile, is a two pack "bar top" finish. Barring one or two very unusual alternatives, it's simply the thickest. Nothing else "encapsulates" wood like Rustins Plastic Coating!
Now, it's much, much harder to identify a finish from a photo, but I'd put a modest bet on this being an oil varnish rather than a two pack. The reason I say that is two pack finishes tend to bunch up at opposite ends of the quality spectrum. At one extreme they're often poorly applied on utility jobs, so they're wrinkly, gloopy, cloudy, orange peel-ey, and usually have a few brush hairs thrown in for good measure. The other time you see twin pack finishes is the Cheltenham Festival of Craftsmanship, when they're crystal clear and burnished to absolute perfection. I rarely see much that's in-between.
Looking at the photo it's not wrinkly, but it's implausible that a plywood counter will have had much care or burnishing. So I'd rule out a two pack. Then looking at the enhanced richness of the grain, plus the way the water beads on the surface, I'm going to take a stab at a decently applied oil varnish.
