Refinishing Cherry that has an oil-finish...possible?

[fred]

Hello, I built a cherry fireplace mantel for the house a few years ago and finished it w/ an oil stain smothed out w/ some steel wool...it's a beautiful, natural finish but now my wife and i decided we'd rather have a rich, dark mahogany stain instead.

How should I go about changing this? Just sanding it lightly and putting the stain on, followed by some poly?

thanks!

fred

new woodworker in seattle

[tom]

If you haven't put any poly on it at all, I'm betting you can just apply the new stain right over the old oil. Is there a section that can't be seen to test it out, colorwise? Tom

[fred]

not really, but i can do it on a spare piece...the oil has been on there for over 18 months. thanks for the reply.