[ithacaartist]

Thanks, Ollie, that's basically how the home brew works--except it is water based. I was considering changing over to alcohol for it, for faster drying. You're right about the oil based colorants' being a one shot deal due to their sealing power. And also about the dark lines if the buildup migrates to the bottoms of the grooves and is not dabbed out before dry. (A soft toothbrush will do the job in this case.)

Staining is basically imparting impurities into the outermost surface of the wood. For best penetration into the wood fiber, the pigments should be near molecular in size. And the less "vehicle" remaining, the less buildup/sealing. Alcohol is a good vehicle because it evaporates completely and will have not much tendency to raise the grain of the wood.

I've used this preparation before to match colors on a set of bulls-eye grips, the components of which displayed four different tones after being stripped. Nature's blend changed the three lightest colors to match the darkest, most wal-nutty. The brightest tones required repeated applications, and I was able to approach the tone I wanted by steps in the application process.