OP - forget the sanding idea - I read that lots - so, sanding can only remove stuff - makes the piece smaller - then it does not fit correctly when re-assembled. That goes for wood, metal, etc. Think that any "sanding" is normally a bad idea when re-finishing - unless done with light touch and done with correct technique. Most people do not use a solid backer with sand paper - as a result, they end up with waviness where it should be flat - it is not uncommon to see corners rounded where they should be square, and so on. It is just amazing how much black marks can go away when finish is chemically stripped - once the finish is removed, just a plain clothes iron and moist towel can plump up dings - you are not going to do much when wood fibres are gone - perhaps re-fill with something, but my experience is that "filler" ends up to "show" more than the gouge. If you have a really badly gouged area, it might be possible to inlet a replacement block - if you have similar wood - and then almost always the glue line will show or the grains in the wood will not line up perfectly.
