Michael, There's a guy up in the regular woodworking forum that would disagree about polyshades- he uses it all the time with great results from what I've seen. Can't remember his name now. FWIW. I've used it only once, and only on pine, so I can't speak from experience. Laquer, to me, is tougher to get a smooth coat on, which is why I use poly, when I do. But laquer and poly are neck and neck for my top two finishes.