It sounds like you are planning to just cut little blocks that you try to corral some way.
If I were you, I would edge glue some 8/4, then cut them into short pieces the thickness of the top, then glue those together, either book matching, or mixing them up from opposite ends.
For this, I think you could use TB 3 and may get a better joint than epoxy.
As for the thin penetrating epoxy, I'm sold on the Smith CPES. It soaks in better than any other that I've tried, especially that which I've thinned down myself. When I use it, I'm already sanded at least to 150, then only go to 220 after it's dry. Then one coat of Minwax wipe on looks like about 8 or more coats of normal wipe on.
The above mentioned product is expensive, but for what it saves in the following schedule, it's worth it.
A couple of years ago, I had finished a table top veneered with fiddleback Sapele that I had first sealed with Smith's CPES, then followed with SWP pre-cat. I was away for a long weekend, then came home to find I'd had a roof leak two days earlier that left a big puddle on on the top. I was dumbstruck when I saw it, expecting to have to start over. But when I wiped it dry, I was laughing out loud when I could't even tell there was any evidence.
I'd soak / seal both sides, and make sure it is well supported underneath because all the short grain with that big cutout hanging on it will need all the help it can get.