I was gonna snip that a bit, but then I realized I agreed with all of it.
Two things of an important note to add, though:
1) A professional rarely brushes clear seal finishes. I don't, and certainly don't know of another professional that brushes toned finishes. Unless Dick is going to spray, Minwax PS wouldn't be a good choice. I was careful in reading the tone of his post, and remember his post on this from before. If I am reading this right, he isn't ready to learn a brand new way of finishing by learning on a couple of new pieces before tackling his house furniture.I have the strongest suspicion that Dick wants to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. Nothing wrong with that! So by getting him back to familiar ground he can take it from there based on his own experience.
2) No one I know that has any background in refinishing would ever put a new finish over polyurethane. The toughest of the plastic resins, polyurethane is made specifically to resist adhesion, penetration and abrasion by foreign materials. That's why it make a great table top or hard use finish. That is also why it is important to get off before attempting something like a color match. It it made to resist all manner of wear, and simply scuffing about with a piece of sand paper only marginally (if at all) increase adhesion.Unless you understand that you are simply going to "lay" color on it, then seal it up by "laying" another coat of something on top of the urethane resin film, you are going the wrong way. To be exact, it is like painting plastic.
And remember Steve, one man's ceiling is another man's floor. I see that all the time in finishing work.
Kinda risky to make comments about another's work sight unseen, though.
Robert