A guy on-line who's work I admire suggested two brushed coats of lacquer with fine sanding in between coats and a final rattle can spay coat. Based on how his work photographs I think he knows his stuff.

I did a test batch of lacquer and one of varnish at the same time. Less than 1-SQ. Ft. of surface material area, and after cleaning the brushes I had to leave the house. The fumes were that bad even after taking the cleaning rags outside.

The lacquer reminds me of model airplane dope I used to use on tissue paper covered balsa framed aircraft when I was a teenager. Cheap buzz but not the intended result.

The shellac sealer with a polyurethane top coat is almost as nice as what I can do with varnish alone, and that is close to lacquer without evicting every living thing from the house for several hours.