Ted
>My experience with curly cherry has been that oil causes some areas to have a dull, darker appearance than other areas. I believe this is due to more end-grain cells in these areas due to the figure. These end-grain cells absorb more finish which results in a blotchy, dull appearance. I have gotten this even on a surface that has been planed with no apparent tear out.

This has happened to me on several projects, so I no longer use oil on cherry, just shellac. An initial coat of thin shellac seems to stop the absorption in the problem zones allowing the finish to build without blotchiness. I get great figure and chatoyance with shellac, so I don't feel any need to go back to oil.