I decided to add some color

[Kenny_S]

A home run for sure Joy. They are Beautiful.

[Dan C]

Joy,

The poly is oil based, but, the wipe-on form anyway, is really easy to apply and use. It might be that I should have put a little more on till it stopped soaking in. I might try that next time, and then wipe off the excess. I say that because I can't really tell it's there. That's not necessarily bad, but it might be nice for it to have a sealed look also.

So the poly would seal the wood, but, in my limited experience, it might not look much different.

You might want to just try the wax to start with. It is really easy to work with and you can get a lighter or darker look just by adjusting the ratio between the natural and dark wax. If you do a 50/50 mix, what you see in the jar really looks dark, but when you apply it and then wipe it off, it's not real dark - just a nice slightly darker shade.

After waxing, you can gently brush with a shoe brush to bring a little shine out of the wax. You should probably experiment on some carved scraps to see what looks good to you.

I got my wax at a Woodcraft store a couple of years ago, but it just seems to me that I have also seen it at Lowes.

Hope that helps.

Dan C.