I have a symmetrical burl from a spruce tree that I cut in half to make a table. The cracks in the burl were filled with epoxy tinted black, and left to cure. Then the epoxy was sanded to a high sheen. The desired look was to represent water flowing off the top of the burl, like a waterfall, down to the base and away.

The base shown in the picture is maple. FYI - It was not easy sanding the epoxy and some of edges next to the wood was also sanded to 3000 grit. You can see in the pictures attached that some sections of the burl and edges of the wide rings have a grey coloring. My question deals with staining. The top of the table is entirely end grain of the spruce. I have never finished such a piece before. What would be my best method of staining this to get an even look? Would it be better to use oil or water based stain, and sould I apply a sealer first. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you. Terry W