Frank, Doc, and elrey, thanks for the compliments.
elrey, I am using Birchwood Casey's Tru-Oil finish. I used it when I was making custom gunstocks in the 70's. It protects the wood under adverse weather conditions, from handling with course gloves while hunting day after day, and from the sun. It is also very easy to repair if needed. I used it on my original dash 7 or 8 years ago and it still looks great.
Frank, I have been using some ideas from other people and some I have worked out myself to build the walnut rim. The metal work will be my own design and not sacrifice my original wheel. I have been planning this project for several years starting when Brosky sent me a dash he no longer needed. Doing the dash is relatively straight forward. It was working out the wheel design and construction methods that was more challenging and will still have a few changes made. The thread a few weeks ago about building a wheel provided some of the final ideas that helped bring the plan together.
If the birds-eye arrives either this week or early next week I will have the dash finished by Thanksgiving except for the final surface finish. I will let the finish cure for a couple weeks before that step is taken.
The final finish will be a light satin look. The final steps will be a 12,000 grit followed by a special wax used on gunstocks.