I don't worry much about small pin knots or small grain swirls.
I don't either. I have never once had a problem with a pin knot.
Finish on ipe takes forever to dry, so it'll be a day or two before it's dry.
Yeah it does. I tried using shellac on it first though like everyone suggested to me, and it worked great on the one I tried. I have to get better at applying it though. It does dry super fast. The only thing is I like how the tru oil soaks in and darkens the wood and makes it look all rich looking, the stuff I used (clear shellac) didn't do anything. So I guess next time I will pick up the natural amber shellac. But for the reason of finishes not curing on ipe, I like to use pure tung oil on ipe. It always looks great, and you can use the bow as the finish actually cures, so that's cool. As it is a wipe on, wait a bit, wipe off kinda finish. (My favorite,
)