Wood tends to expand perpendicular to the grain, so if you nail / fasten long grain to end grain, it tends to separate over time.

It's glued in the middle, but is floating until the ends.

Nothing wrong with nail holes and gouges, especially with the way you treated them. Always adds a nice bit of character.

The wood is beautiful! What type of clear did you use?

Four coats total, I believe.

This wood has a lot of.. umm.. depth, I guess would be the right term. It has a refractive sheen that changes the look depending on angle.

I tried just a brushed on polyurethane, but for some reason that dulled the sheen / depth. So I stripped that off and started over.

Just curious. I've seen lower sheen polys dull the depth because of the flatteners in them, especially in the higher build types. What brand did you use? We used to use a lot of Zar, and also McCloskey's "Heirloom."

EDIT: We also used a fair amount of Tung Oil for rubbed out finishes.

It was smooth and clear, but for some reason, the depth just.. flattened.

It *looked* like a layer of clear just laying on top of the wood.

I've been out of the trade going on seven years now, and the material here in California has changed dramatically (along with the prices).

Went in to buy some Simpson's mar proof bar top lacquer the other day, and the Sherwin-Williams guy told me they can't stock it anymore. VOC's, I suppose.

This winter I'm planning on finally building the Brazilian Cherry trestle table I've had the plans for going on thirty years now. I'm hoping for the patience to do a real French Polish with ruby shellac. Labor intensive, and certainly not as tough as either poly or tung oil, but hard to beat the look.

This whole crop of water-based finishes is new to me too. I'm used to sanding sealer then a hard oil based poly or varnish.

Seems to me that many of these new finishes are too rubbery and not sandable.