Reply by Kirk650

Thanks Charles, I read it and it seems to be pretty much my same approach.

Before I bought your controller, I had decided on using JE Moser Dark Wine Cherry dye. Even with some blotching, it looked good. The Transtint Walnut dye blend, that I often use on walnut projects, looked awful on the untreated hard maple. But, using your controller, the walnut dye looks great. The Cherry dye looks good also. Only problem is that they both need to be a bit darker. I’ve prepared, with your controller, 4 more boards sanded to 220. Tomorrow morning i plan to try darker stains, double applications of stains, and combinations of stains (cherry over walnut, or the reverse). I could just go with either dye as applied yesterday, but the favorite niece told me that she liked dark wood colors. So if I can’t get exactly the dark shade that I want, I’ll probably add color with sprayed shellac and Transtint dye.