fumed oak frame; kitchen table

Here are a couple projects I finished for my house in the past week or so. I had a 30x46 mirror that had a frame I didn't like. So I made a simple mortise/tenon white oak frame for it and decided to try fuming it with ammonium hydroxide. I work in architecture so I just used 29% solution used in diazo machines.

Here's a pic of the setup just after cutting open the 'tent'.

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The plywood is birch and you can see how much it darkened it too. I wanted the oak dark so I left it for about 34 hours. The darker areas in the center are where my shallow container of ammonia was. It was first time to do it so I was surprised by the color upon first seeing it. I put on some BLO and it completely changed. (any tips for an easy finishing? or should I just leave BLO only? I don't really want to mess with anything but could stand a tad more gloss..maybe a light coat of semi-gloss poly?)

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edit: that's a piece of the unfinished, unfumed oak next to the frame to show color change.
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If you haven't tried it, it's not hard and I was really happy with the results. But heed others warnings about ammonium hydroxide fumes. I work around nasty stuff like nitric acid, acetic acid, cadmium bromide, etc in photography and this stuff is wicked. Some cuts on my arm started stinging bad just from the fumes several feet away.

And here's a trestle table I finished for my kitchen. Red oak, special walnut stain, poly finish.
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Very nice work. That oak looks beautiful. Great table and frame!

Corey

thanks for the comments. I'd still appreciate any ideas on a good natural finish with a bit of shine to it. Like I said, right now it's just BLO and is on the matte side.