The result is a harder, heavier, water-resistant, less flexible, and slightly darker wood that can be machined and polished even easier than an untreated piece. The wood will come back heavier. Wood grains become entirely saturated with acrylic when they are stabilized so they repel water and oils, including stains and dyes. If you are wishing to color the wood, it is important to remember that the wood must be colored during stabilizing. Because all moisture is pushed out of the wood during the stabilization process, the wood's natural flexibility is removed, so forcing pins through a hole which is slightly too small may crack the wood.
Acrylic saturates wood fibers, but the natural pores remain open.
Polishing compound may be trapped in the open pores, making the handle look soiled. Hirsch reports getting a beautiful, shiny finish by sanding to 320 grit and applying a water-based finish. Because the fibers are saturated, the grain will not raise when a water-based finish is applied. Don't be surprised. Further, because the wood fibers are entirely saturated with acrylic, the pigments will not fade through oxidation.