Life of Brushed vs Cut & Polsihed Finish?

[Tegmark]

For most finishes that can be applied thick by brush, what will last longer, the natural brush finish or if it's sanded, cut & polished to a high gloss?

My thinking is the cut & polished on it's own open the pores & is less sealed? So things like oxidation & wear will be less. The brush bare finish on some varnish's looks tougher & more scratch resistance over the mirror glaze gloss after polished. I don't like the idea of waxes/protective coats as it's too much work for stuff like a desk with a lot of stuff on it.

[Arron]

If you have sealed the workpiece properly before applying finish then it's highly unlikely a cut and polish will open the pores - it shouldn't get anywhere near close. The cut and polish should only affect the surface of the final coat.

Obviously very fine scratches are going to be much more visible on a highly polished finish then a finish straight off the brush.

I agree that waxes are largely misunderstood and misused.