Hi again all. We (The wife and I) just ran into a great deal on some old-growth redwood burl slabs and stock. We’ve taken a few samples to see what finishes will look like and so far, not good, at least to us. Our favorite finishes, oil and varnish, straight varnish, shellac, and lacquer all seem to darken the wood to a good degree and we were wondering if any of you have had a this “problem” and, if so, what did you do for a solution to keep the burlwood lighter. I would love to enclose a couple of pictures of before and after but we recently relocated and can’t find the dam camera. Thank you in advance. DWW