When you say 'mask', you mean just covering it with masking tape when staining, and hoping for the best, right?
Stewmac have a good video; is this what you meant by scraping? I'm a noob, but I'm gonna try to hound all you guys for as much information as I can get! haha
What exactly do you mean by polishing? Like, steel wool, sanding sealer etc? What products do you recommend? Cheers!