I’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the carving and tweaking the architecture, and I’m finally to the point of staining and varnishing. Been dreading using iron nitrate but also pretty sure it was what I’d use due to originality. It turned out pretty nicely, and the curl is incredible. Actually it detracts from the carving a bit, but I’m not too concerned about that. Now it's on to varnishing.....