David Heim says "I needed a dining table, so I decided to make a practice piece to try a few things I'd never done before. The table top is 40x60 in. The center panel is African Mahogany plywood, and the rest is Honduran Mahogany. The inlaid cross banding is Sapele which I made up from scraps from the veneering class I took last summer. This worked pretty well except that the width of the black striping I purchased varied ever so slightly from piece to piece. Next time I'll cut my own. The stain was gel varnish colored with Jeff Jewitt's Trans Tints. The tinted gel varnish also works great as a glaze to even out any color variations if needed. The African Mahogany did stain slightly unevenly, but it was not visible until the finish coat was applied. The finish coat was 6 coats of a high solids varnish which was sanded level between coats. I wanted to try rubbing it out to as high a gloss as I could so after it cured for a month, I started polishing with pumice, rottenstone, and progressively fine autobody abrasives. This is a LOT of work by hand; I'll use a power buffer next time. As usual I learned a lot on the project. Hopefully, with a practice piece under my belt, I'll be able to repeat the table without the flaws which don't show in the photo."