Your approach of letting the stripper do the work to avoid damaging the wood is wise. Patience is key when it comes to these projects, and it's clear you understand that. It's fascinating to follow your progress through the different stages, from initial stripping to the overnight results.
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I will check it out. I have done a few pieces of wood on the car and in general, they look good.

 

I used to run a business making Mahogany Speedboats, so I've tried lots of stuff to do this kind of thing.

Epoxy - makes the strongest and best adhesion to the wood - but it's not proof against UV rays and will go cloudy yellow eventually if you don't cover it with a top coat of something else.
Polyurethane is best for top coating, and you can just use this. But most types are thin - it will need lots of coats.

What ever you use - it will sink into the grain over time & with temperature. So I used to leave items out in full sun for a couple of days - when mostly done, but before doing the last few coats.

Polyurethane will melt some foam brushes and they will fall apart. Brush or spray? doesn't matter much on small pieces, but on bigger stuff spray is much better. Either way you will need to sand flat between coats, and probably sand flat and buff to a gloss after the final coat.

I used to varnish in 'groups of coats'.
Say 1-3 coats Epoxy, depending on if it's solvent free & thick - or thin & runny with solvent in. Then sand flat & leave a couple of days to cure.
Then 3-4 coats of 2 pack PU put on in ~20 min intervals. Leave a few days to dry - put out in sun. Then sand flat.
Then same 3-4 coat process again.
Finally flat with really fine grit 1000-1500 in a random orbit sander wet with water & dish soap.
Then if it looks ok, buff to a gloss, but if it doesn't flat well and still has low spots - recoat again.

 

You must have had a great sense of accomplishment with those finished products. I hope you kept one for yourself.

 

Thank you. Unfortunately I didn't, but got other things to look after now - like my Jag..