So im currently building a platform bed for my wife for her birthday, the bed has a 8" ledge all the way around and a 1/2" ebony inlay i was wondering what finish would be durable enough for my kids to step on to get into the bed and stuff, but will allow the rich color of the Mahogany. I was going to go what David Marks says and put a coat of potassium-dichromate on the mahogany to darken and enrich the wood. But what type of protective finish should i use. Im new to wood work but in the few projects i have made i feel the finish hasnt come out super good. I have used Tung oil after staining red oak twice and brush on poly over stained red oak 1 time. I feel part of problem is surface prep, which i will pay much greater attention to this time as this bed will probably end up costing me about 700bux in wood alone. So any help would be appreciated.
Thanks Steve