I stumbled on this totally by accident. A couple years ago a run was on a stock and it was "gelling" and I tried to touch the run and blend it in. For some reason I started rubbing it and I ended up rubbing the whole stock. Here is what I now do. I dip my finger in the poly and rub it into the wood , and as it only will cover a small area I rub till it is almost dry(as dry as it will get). I do the whole stock and then later when I want to give another coat use a fine wool or wet dry sand paper and lightly sand the stock. You can stop after you feel the wood is sealed or keep going until it is like glass. After done I take fine steel wool and lightly buff and then rub Butchers wax or even a gun oil on a rag real hard until I get the dull "english" hand rubbed look. Hey its cheap and works and touches up easily!