FRITZ - I used Fiebing's Leather Dye - Chocolate Brown and a bit of Black. The color actually has more red in it than I was expecting. You can see an almost cherry like look to it in the sun. I was going for a darker chocolate brown but it turned out okay. Leather dye doesn't always look the same when you use it on wood. Probably cuz it's "LEATHER" dye.
Anyway I prefer using leather dye because it's easy to work with, affordable, a little goes a long way, it thins with alcohol and dries fast. You have to experiment a little on a test piece sometimes. I also used a coat of Black Walnut Stain (from Minwax). I was having a tough time working the dye into the grain and that did the trick. Finally it's finished with 12 coats of clear gloss wipe on polyurethane. I know not everyone likes "shiny" but I do. So I used it. Put on 10 coats sand with 0000 steal wool. cleaned off ALL the little steal wool particles with compressed air - add 2 more very thin coats.
ErictheViking - thanks dude - uh..yeah now there's an image I can't unsee.
HA! No offense Sleek!
Weylin - thanks bro. I really appreciate it!
PD - Thanks dude!
Thanks again everyone!
