I've a question about finishing/polishing if anyone can assist?

I've an old large chest of drawers that I've dismantled, sanded and is nearly ready to re-assemble, however, I've spent ages taking it apart and going through the grits, that I don't want to knacker it up now. The top, 2 sides and 5 drawer fronts are made from solid mahogany and the front is a soft wood, veneered with an unknown wood.

After finishing the sanding (down to 320 grit) and scraping, I lightly moistened the surface to raise any grain and re-scraped once dry. I've then gone over the whole thing with 3 coats of sanding sealer (cutting back lightly with 320 grit paper).

Now is the stage that I'm a little confused at. I want to build up a nice deep glossy finish, but I don't know what the next stage is. I've read a few different books about finishing and I'm more puzzled than I was before. If I'm right in saying, I can continue building up sanding sealer to a gloss finish, or I can move on to the french button polish. Is this correct?

If I go down the french polish route (which is where I think I'm heading), I then have a few more questions. I've an offcut of similar timber and have prepared it in exactly the same way. I've applied some Liberon Pale French Button Polish with a cloth and gently applied. From some of the books I have read they recommend using a "figure of 8" rubbing technique. However, very quickly the surface goes tacky. The only way I can stop this is by applying a little more polish which I can already see is building up a deeper shine. Is this correct? If so, how do I eliminate the swirls that I can see on the surface?

If I'm on the right path then I'm thinking that this is almost the same technique as the "bulling your boots" as you would in the Army for example (Button polish is the wax polish, but what is the equivalent of the spit?). Is this right?

Sorry about the length of this. Any advice gratefully accepted.

Thanks for the advice WS.

D'oh, it never dawned on me to brush the first coat on. Never even crossed my mind.

I now have another question. In the various books/articles I've read about polishing, they also mention linseed oil as do you. However, some say use raw and others say boiled.

I'm certainly not questioning your decisions and choices, but what's the difference (other than one has obviously been heated) and why do you say use raw?

Thanks.