Terry, to get both great looks and a tough finish may take some compromise. I think oil finishes look the best. One woodworker's trick is to do the final sanding while the wood is wet with the oil, using 600 grit or finer wet/dry paper. You wind up with an incredibly smooth finish. Again, it takes days for oil finishes to set up and any surface coat put on before it's set could be compromised.
The problem with any wood finish is that (despite advertising) they usually only penetrate very slightly into the wood. (Try a small scrap of wood and you'll see what I mean.) Topcoat finishes - like superglue - don't penetrate the surface. That's why many knifemakers have gone to stabilized wood. Acrylic resins - like those in superglue - in solvents are used to penetrate the wood deeply and then harden. To get the wood thoroughly penetrated requires pulling a vacuum. However, even something like Wood Hardener will penetrate pretty deeply without a vacuum.
Different woods respond differently to finishes, because of their density and oil content. Experiment on some scraps to see what gives you the best results.
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