Once the liquids are poured they need to be mixed. When mixing use gentle strokes with a clean paint stick. Avoid shaking, or aggressively stirring the mix because that will cause the mix to cavitate (form little air bubbles), which will result in an uneven finish, and ultimately more sanding. | 
Although the kit comes with sponges and brushes I chose to use a brush for my application. Horkey's recommends striking the brush off in a separate can (or Taco Bell cup), as bubbles can result from striking the brush off, and if done on the varnish container the bubbly varnish will drip down into the rest of the varnish. | 
When applying the varnish to the wood completely coat the wood, including the sides. Once coated, gently pull the brush the entire length of the board to even out the randomly applied finish. Upon doing this the varnish will have brush strokes in it, but the varnish is self-leveling so leave it be. |
Placing a light to shine on the wood will allow you to make sure the entire board has been covered in varnish-due to the fact the varnish will reflect the light. (The light will also reveal any brush bristles that may have decided to stay behind.) By the way, the varnish will take 24 hours to dry (I applied a coat every night after I got home from work) so make sure it is left undisturbed and free of any possible debris. If any varnish is left over, seal it up airtight-it can be used again. However don't pour it back into the original varnish can. | 
After the second coat of thinned varnish, and every coat after, the sandman enters-the sandman being you. The boards are sanded after each coat so that the final product is level and consistent. Using the 280-grit paper, lightly sand each board with the grain. | 
After making a few passes, you'll notice the finish isn't even. This is normal. (Coat after coat will fill in all those low spots.) The dull portion is where the paper has taken down the high spots, and the glossy areas are the low spots. Also notice the many air bubble cavities, all of them can't be avoided, so they too are sanded out through the course of the process. |
Because the paper can't level the low spots, use the Scotch-Brite pads to remove the remaining gloss for a strong adhesion on the next coat. Also, only use the pad on rounded edges as well. | 
A board that is sanded and Scotch-Brited correctly will look similar to this. If you're wondering how many coats of varnish need to be applied, it is a personal preference. Five coats is a minimum for good protection, and it will also give your wood a more natural hand-rubbed look. Or you can choose to give the wood that perfect glass look, by applying roughly eight coats. For me, I applied the necessary five coats on the bottom and seven coats up top. | 
With my last coat of varnish applied, it was time to begin the polishing portion of the job. The job doesn't have to be cut and buffed if you're satisfied with the outcome of simple varnish. However, I wanted things a little more elegant. Horkey's recommends using Meguiar's products for this, therefore I ordered the necessary products from Meguiar's, including: Mirror Glaze #1, Mirror Glaze #3, polishing pads, and a Velcro backing pad. |