Simon I chickened out on using the darker stain to pop the grain because in my testing it looked muddy. It is interesting to contemplate what the difference would have been if I had used the Cherry Red as the base and darkened it with drops of Mahogany Red instead of doing the MR base with drops of CR. Would the grain have gone as dark? Try that another project.

FrankenWashie you was right. I have just completed the third TO coat and the light is starting to get into what I thought was black but is turning into a very dark Red. All part of gaining experience.