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Here is one more pic of the woods.

looks like ebony could be some black walnut

You have white oak and mahogany.

The light coloured is Oak. The bottom could be mahogany. The top is possibly beech.

Whenever I sand prior to stain, I will wet the wood after the last grit I used and after it dries I go back over it again with the same grit. The water will raise little hairs on the wood. Sanding these back down will ensure they will not pop up again when you apply stain. This has always worked for me.

After you stain it lightly sand it by hand with 220 then tack cloth it off and then apply a seal coat. Or some call it sandable sealer. Then lighly sand that with 320. Then finish it. The seal coat will fill in your lower grain an give you a much better finish after you build up your finish coats.

All good answers, one other thing I have found, on some pallet wood, its just way to " new" and not completely kiln dried,
Some of the countries some of this comes
From probably Dont do much drying at all. I recently resawed a nice piece of maple, basically a 2x 4, and found it to be
Wet inside. Time to put it away until next
Year.

good answer jeff I have done the same thing it works great

I agree if you’re working with wet wood it’s going to want to raise the grain when you apply a finish. It also makes a difference what type of finish your using ,water borne or oil base as to what the best approach is. A sealer may or may not be necessary. I would try it on a sample board first and see what works best. Many times after you raise the grain all you need is a light scuff with 180-220 wipe down with a tack cloth and you’re ready to go.

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