Muzz I was going to respond but I realised you are going for a burst. PM Wokkaboy for his tips on how to burst with DT. He would have posted already but i understand he's been really busy at work.

When I was laying down a single stain, I wanted it dark, so I kept applying DT until I got the rough colour I was after. then waited a week to cure. I wanted to add more at that stage so I kept going again waited a week to cure until I got the deep colour I was after. It was a lot easier than what you are going for because 1. it wasn't a burst and 2. I wanted the colour as deep as I could get it.

I did not sand or steel wool between stain coats, you shouldn't need to. The wood needs a bit of "tooth" for the stain to grab on, steel wool will only polish the "tooth" out.