When I resumed work the first task was to finish the rails. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of this process. After practicing on scrap with my new router and 3/8" roundover bit, I more or less successfully added a rounded edge to the top of the rails. I used my sander to remove a few gouges, etc. Next (as seen in the photo) I planed the excess off the bottom of the outside rail to match where the inner rail was trimmed before installation. I wanted to stain the rails a dark walnut shade, so I proceeded to do that, applied a first coat of epoxy after letting the stain dry overnight, and then let the epoxy dry. You're supposed to sand in between the two to three epoxy coats. When I did that the stain started to come off in patches and looked terrible. I might have used the wrong type of stain. Anyway that meant re-sanding the entire rails AND the breasthooks which created another problem: the breasthook wood is not solid but laminated with different types of wood. After sanding the hooks for the second time I broke through the first lamination and I decided to sand the entire surface of the hooks to the same depth. This doesn't look as nice as I had hoped, but it's not terrible.Then two coats of epoxy was re-applied to the rails and hooks . . . a very frustrating experience, but I'm moving on.
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