re: Finish question

That kind of depends on the balance of what you intend to do. If you intend to top coat with a waterborne, it won’t hurt to use a coat of shellac between it and the stain. You may see a little color shift with the shellac (or anything else that follows). If you go with spray lacquer, I would put it on the stain without shellac.

To CWS: I don’t see that the OP mentioned he hadn’t used shellac, though some of the replies mention it. I’d say you are out of line with that comment, regardless of who it’s targeted at.