I’ve read all the posts that came up for “bubinga” in the finishing forum, but I haven’t seen this topic specifically. Here’s my dilemma. I’m getting near the stage of finishing a large bubinga conference table. When I wipe it down with denatured alcohol, the figure of the wood really pops and shimmers. This is true regardless of whether the surface has been scraped, sanded, and scraped then sanded. The figure really pops also on a couple of places where polyurethane glue has dried on it. But when I try some of the “tried and tested” methods for getting the grain to pop, it just doesn’t shine like under the alcohol or poly glue. A thin coat of boiled linseed oil and/or tung oil just seems to make it look mottled. Fresh shellac is better, but still not as spectacular. The final topcoat on the table will be a pre-cat cabinet varnish; I haven’t tried that straight-up on the wood yet.

Anybody have some good advice on this? Thanks in advance.

Pat