[lumberjim]

I filled the gaps in the landing with wedges of 1 yr old home depot pine (at Amanda's suggestion{or so she claims, at least} ), and chiseled and sanded... Then I stained the new wood with dark Trans Tint dye and water, cured. Then I sanded that back. That left the hard grain dark and the soft grain light. Then, fire.

I torched the hard grain, and lightly sanded that back. A coat of old antique maple Trans Tint and some mixing of the amber to level the color... I gave the older wood 2 coats of the maple and a jot of amber..... Got them close enough to not be noticeably different.


Then 2 coats of triple thick poly, steel wool satin finish.
We're pleased with the result.