newly painted merbau handrail has turned black

[alattas]

434846246_458485356600962_8311519803299273999_n.jpgi sanded434961553_453901187230615_6398908226764649681_n.jpg434858909_746638081012514_412440236378210338_n.jpg down my merbau top rail, and painted it once with sikkens Hlse, but it drank it right up, it remained red with a bit of black with the first coat. I decided to give it a second coat of Hlse because it drank the first, but it then went more black. What should i do, sand it back or will it change when i apply the top coat of sikkens filter 7, wash it with oxalici acid, These are photos of the unsanded, then sanded and finally painted handrail that has gone blacker

[Camelot]

So you sanded back your old finish and found a nice coloured raw wood which you wood like to keep, but unfortunately any finish will darken raw wood.

I use CUTEK because it's an oil based product which penetrates below the surface better than most finishes

Extreme CD50 | Extreme External Timber Protection | CUTEK(R)

[droog]

Looks like the original post on Woodwork Forums has lost some content when migration of the Renovate Forums happened and the pictures have been lost.I replied to the original post, your first two photo's appeared that the timber had a water based film forming coating, ie paint.You third picture of the darker end result is the look I would expect from a fresh oil based finish on merbau.