Something that I haven't quite got the gist of doing well yet.

How to stain a flat board **without** getting drips down the sides or
staining the sides of the board so that it turns out with the same finish as
the top and sides.

Problem I run into is that the sides of the board are typically without
grain, so you end up with a uniform color - unlike the top where the grain
takes varying degrees of color from the stain.

Second question, correlation to the first, applying a polyeurothane coat to
the stain. If I want it done right it takes about 3 days to do - flat part
of board, dry 5 hours, then do sides, dry for 5 hours, flip, bottom, dry for
5. Sand, and repeat as needed. I seriously want to do the whole board and
set it on a wire rack to dry, but inevitably I get pools of coating on the
bottom of the board where the finish slowly accumulates.