Sapele finishing experience?

I like Sapele a lot. It finishes more brownish in color, than say the more
redish African mahogany. I've found it also doesn't have any of the cross
grain blotchiness issues of African Mah. I bought some but ended up not
using it for the intended project. It had sticker stains that just wouldn't
come out. Lesson learned for me. I did use a piece for the base of a bird
house lamp and just finished with a wipe on poly. It looks great though and
the striping is well defined and stands out nicely with just that simple
finish.

"SonomaProducts.com" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:39601df2-ecab-4552-a91f-75d0e615a66c@a37g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>I got what looked like a deal on 4/4 and 5/4 rough shorts (4 feet) of
> Sapele. I noticed it on a pallet on sale for $3.50 bf as I was leaving
> a supplier. They had one piece planed down and the sparkle and
> patterened grain looked nice, like a red mohag. I grabbed a few sticks
> to try out on a new clock design. Haven't started milling it yet but
> was wondering what experience anyone has had finishing this species?
>
> I am thinking an oil to pop the sparkle and maybe a ruby shellac to
> intensify the redness.
>
> Also considering a wash of dye to maybe excentuate the figure. This
> isn't the pommel or curly or anything special in terms of figure but
> at least one piece shows some nice stripe-ing through the rough cut.
>
> Can't wait to clean it up and see what comes out.