I am building a pair of end tables from American Walnut (first experience with walnut) and my boss (read wife ) wants it to be darker than I get with just shellac or BLO, but I really like the appearance of the grain with shellac or BLO without stain. BTW, I am limited to wiping and/or brush.

I have experimented a bit by applying Crystalac transparent water-based pore filler, sanding lightly, then I applied TransTint Dark Walnut (TT DW) dye stain in distilled water. I followed that by a washcoat of unwaxed clear Seal Coat. It wasn't quite dark enough so I applied a couple of toner coats of TT DW. This just seemed to obscure the grain pop I started out with.

My current thinking to retain the grain is one of the two sequences below:
Seq. A:
Start by rubbing in a very small amount of BLO;
Apply the TT DW/RM mix, maybe twice;
Use a spray can of Seal Coat to put on a couple of light coats (so I can begin wiping and not partially wipe off the TT);
Wipe on a coat of untinted shellac (the usual several passes);
Lightly sand or synthetic steel wool it after each coat.

Seq. B:
Start by wiping on a wash coat of tinted shellac;
Use a spray can of Seal Coat to put on a couple of light coats (so I can continue wiping and not disturb the TT washcoat);
Wipe on a coat of untinted shellac (the usual several passes);
Lightly sand or synthetic steel wool it after each coat.

Finishing sequence:
In both cases, I would apply the transparent Crystalac grain filler to accelerate pore filling;
POSSIBLY followed by a Toner coat.
And finish of with a few more coats of shellac.

My question is, am I on the right track with either sequence to both get the darker color and keep the grain?

TIA,
Jim