Question- I recently struggled through a finishing job ( my first ) and now have finally gotten some decent results on my project- here is what I have done so far-

Totally screwed up a dye attempt- went too dark. used minwax conditioner, sprayed on a water based dye with HVLP gun. Mouldings are the real problem- black splotches everywhere.

Used chlorine bleach to remove bad dye. left with blotchy ugly wood ( its birch ply with pine trim )but the dye is all gone!

Re conditioned with charles oneill’s stuff, diluted the dye (red mahogany ), resprayed entire project.

Birch ply came out great! Pine not so much. still lots of nearly black areas along the mouldings

Back to HD to buy some better stain than the minwax i just tossed. HD only has minwax. Off to Lowes- cabot was reccomended. I am considering painting the project black. Last ditch- try some oil based ebony cabot and see if it comes out covering up the black trim spots.

Layed on a super thick tacky coat of the cabot- wow! trim is actually pretty again- a bit of the red dye showing through the black stain looks nice. whew!

So thats where im at. I now would like to try to accentuate the red undertones, and get to a fairly glossy finish at the end. I am scared to death to do anything without some advice- heres what I am considering:

1.Toner- I have about 1/2 oz of the red mahogany dye left- can I use a toner on top of what I have done already? varnish based on top of the oil stain or is shellac ok? Will this even bring out more of the red underneath?

2. Sanding sealer coat? Will this allow me to sand without disturbing the finish? then add some layers of varnish/sanding to build a clear coat? I am scared to sand the finish wihtout some kind of layer on top-

3. move straight to clear poly to keep me from screwing anything up?

Thanks in advance for any advice! Really nice site here btw!