After some sanding and a little more trimming to make things fit nicely, I decided on a nice dark walnut stain.
Two reasons really.
- High contrast with the brass fittings (and eventual mother of pearl inlay) to really make them pop.
- Helps to hide the blackening that was happening from firing it, and would inevitably happen from use in the future.
I'm sure a lighter stain, or just an oil coat on the light wood, would be beautiful. But you'd have to leave it on a shelf after that or risk ruining it. I plan on firing this regularly, it's WAY fun to shoot, so decided to go with a more utilitarian (but still beautiful) coloring on it.
After it dried I decided to toss most of the pieces back on (still has to come apart again for the oil and inlay) for a while and see how it all comes together. I love it.
I will be finishing it this weekend I believe, once I master these inlay methods (practicing on some test wood). Got the wrong epoxy to start with, so working out all of the finer points may take a bit longer... We will see. Stay tuned and I'll keep posting my progress!