Thanks sombreuil mongrel A redder orange may be just the ticket ! I wish I had tested better before beginning. I used the ceiling facing edge for testing and tried the Olympic American Cherry, Merlot and Red Mahogany and a fourth I don't remember. I don't know if it was caused by the particular board on that portion of the door or whatever but they all looked much more similar that I thought possible considering the samples I'd seen in the store and the brochure - none of which had been applied to Cherry. I expect if I just proceed to the poly finish that the doors will naturally darken to suit my taste eventually. I'm hesitant to apply a new stain since I was so wrong the first time - oh well - thanks again jd

It looks like there is more figuring in the example door than in yours, but the color should be straight forward. Just do testing on some scrap. I usually spray my stains and mostly blend off-the-shelf stains with pigments and dyes to get what I want. It is also impossible to do from a picture. Every stain maker has its own formulas. Trial and error is the about the only way. It looks like there is a pinkish tint to the wood, so whatever color you choose, you may want to add a little walnut to it to neutralize some of the pink. Walnut will often have a little green in it and that will drive it to more brownish final look. The sample looks reddish, so it may not be necessary. Good luck and come back here, there are knowledgeable people that may help. Looking back at the pic, if the streaking is what you're trying to duplicate, there may be some tricks you can use. Richard

When we got our Mahogany doors, my now-ex was in his passive aggressive stage. He wanted a dark door, so I went and got different stains. He liked an Olympic something that looked absolutely chocolate. I wish he'd been even snotty and said to me, "You have to wipe stain off." Because that door looked painted for-EVEH. Fast forward several years with him gone, and me having learned enough to be very dangerous. I absolutely [insert really rude 'f' word here] the Mahogany front door. I stripped it and sanded it down (before I discovered Citristrip, sadly). I wanted a natural finish. I read and read, and ended up with Cabots Australian Timber Oil, which was supposed to bring out the grain and seal it well. O. M. G. I still HATE my yellow door. And, oil yellows. So does polyurethane, BTW. Fast forward again. I learned about Citristrip, which can suck stain right out of the wood. (I'm here to tell you with 15 antique doors as testimony! Raw wood! Digression...) I used it on the sister mahogany side door and it came out a GORGEOUS grayed wood brown. Not gray from stain, but being weathered. All that said, I'm using some white oak in my kitchen. I have discovered that special walnut doesn't have any red in it, which I really love. A single coat just gives the grain some depth without making it look man-cave-ish. I'm going to try it on the inside of the door I screwed up to see how it could look. I'm going to take the door off when its warmer and see if Citristrip can suck the yellow color out of the other side of the door and start over. So a lot more info than you might need, but you might want to check out the Minwax Special Walnut. Experiment. But Mahogany, like cherry somewhat, will oxidize and darken, so keep that in mind.

Vinmarks. Yes you can use minwax stain with the marine varnish. Actually I used minwax exclusively when I was running my custom woodworking shop. Because it is made using both dyes and pigments it will go on really nicely and not give you a blotchy finish. As a stain alone it is not waterproof. If I didn't spray the stain on I typically used a foam brush and paper towels to wipe off the excess stain. A lot of folks will use a cotton shirt or similar but I found that the cloth would leave fibers stuck in the woodgrain. I'm refinishing the oak kitchen cabinets in our daughter's home for a Christmas present for her. Very easy. Wash with warm soapy water and dry good. Then use minwax stain mixed into Deft brand laquer. I will probably use a foam brush to apply the laquer. But will probably use a paper towel on some parts like drawer sides. Hopefully this will help some