Which finish to use?

I need a little finishing advise and welcome any and all input. I have two projects that I want to stain, but I am not sure what finish coat to use.

The first project is a small decoratve red oak shelf. It is approx 24” long by 9” high (there is an oak back below the shelf). I made this from one piece of oak so the color of the raw wood matches pretty closely, I just want to darken it a little. The grain isn’t paticularly fancy so I don’t need to “pop” it.

The second project is a, mostly utilitarian, shelf made from some really clear, very white 5/8” plywood (I assume it is pine). Measures approx 46” x 24” with two sheets sandwiched together to give two nice surfaces. I will be edging this with soft maple (just because I have it lying around and it color matches pretty good.)

I probably got the cart in front of the horse on this one, but I’ve been wanting to try a gel stain so I bought a can of Minwax Antique Oak gel to use on both projects. I did this before giving a lot of thought to the finish coat. I prefer to use a wipe-on finish for the small shelf as it has several possibilities for runs if I use a brush. Wipe-on or brush-on would be fine for the large shelf as it is just two flat surfaces.

As I understand it from Bob Flexner’s book I could have the problem of picking up stain from the surfaces if I wipe or brush a finish (I should have read this before I got the gel!). Now I’m getting cold feet as to how to proceed. I need some LumberJock advice please- thanks.

-- Steve - "Dang, no matter how many times I run it through the planner it's still too thin!"