Really beginning to look good. Decided to try alcohol based stain – results speak for themselves. Only surprise was my book matching effort is now hard to see – other than the darker strips! Next step will be install hardware.
Samples to test actual stain
epoxy over bare wood (left) andover 1 coat of General Finishes Honey Amber
Sealer coat over 3 stain applications
All my book matching pretty much erased with stain!
Cherry tail block with stain/epoxy
Nose plug (mahogany)