Replies

1. 
   Paul_First_Finish | Sep 30, 1999 06:57am | #1

   *
   Don;

   There are a few articles on the web that will help. Check out the following addresses;

   "www.taunton.com/fw/features/techniques/maple/1.htm"

   "www.americanwoodworker.com/just_finishing/42jf/42just_finishing.htm"

   "www.taunton.com/fw/features/techniques/cherry/1.htm"

   The last article is on cherry (not maple) but the author has some good info on blotching.

1. 
   bullet_ | Sep 30, 1999 06:21pm | #2

   *the only sure-fire way to keep maple (and cherry) from blotching is not to stain it.

1. 
   Clay_Baker | May 02, 2000 05:45am | #3

   *Don,Blotching occurs mostly in Cherry, Pine and some Maples. When these woods are cut, some of the ends of the wood fibers are left exposed while others are still flat. Think of it this way. Hold a bunch of drinking straws in your hand. If you turn the ends of the straws up you can pour a bunch of liquid in them. But if you hold them flat only a little liquid will find its way into the ends. The exposed wood fibers are holding more pigment than the surrounding fibers that haven't been sliced open. To minimize or even eliminate the blotching you need to use finishes that don't penetrate the wood as deeply thereby reducing the amount of pigment the woodfibers can carry. For instance, never use Watco or any other deep penetrating oil on cherry or pine, it will blotch. Instead try a gel stain. Gel stains are sold as stains that don't drip and run. But what they really do well is sit on the surface without penetrating the wood. Another technique you can use is to tint your finish and not use stain at all. I really prefer lacquer over polyurethanes, but you can tint polies as well. Universal tinting colors work best or dyes, like Jeff Jewitts Homestead finishes. But you can use stains as tints as well. In fact I'm doing a cherry floor right now where I first applied Waterlox tung oil(which contains ploy)tinted with a Zar stain, Then sealed it all down with a polyurethane. No blothching here because the tung oil prevented the stain from penetrating the wood. Another methoid is to seal the wood first with super blonde shellac. Then apply you tinted finish. Let menknow what you decide to do.

1. 
   Helen_Carrier | May 12, 2000 11:36pm | #4

   *IHelp uneven blotchy coloringI am trying to refinish an old chestnut dresser. The re finishing book I bought said it is a large pored wood so I should use Watco Danish oil finish to seal the pores and maintain the wood grain.Well I put black walnut Watch Danish oil on it and the color is totally uneven with clothing. In many areas it looks like a bad case of acne. Very light in some spots and black in others. I want to even out the coloring and reduce the black. Can I just wipe the dresser down and put some other stain on it. Or if I have to strip off the Danish oil is there an easy way to do it. I really don't want to have to remand the dresser as it is all assembled now. Anyone out there who can help?

1. 
   Larry_Arnold | May 13, 2000 02:21am | #5

   *Helen,This is an old post about maple. You will probably get better responses with a new message.Chestnut is suppose to be very similar to oak. My first choice would be no stain, next dye. Not oil, although I have used Watco with good results on oak.Removing the oil will be hard. You may be able to sand it down some.I have never dealt with chestnut but I did not think it reacted this way. May be wrong. Try reposting and see what answers you get.Are you positive that it is chestnut?

2. 
   Steve_Schoene | Jun 20, 2000 11:35pm | #6

   *Refinishing can sometimes present special problems. If it was ever waxed with a product containing silicon that could have contributed to the acne like areas, if by that you mean that the finish has pulled away from certain spots, kind of like a catering effect of light spots in the finish. The solution to this, after sanding off the Watco, is to first seal with dewaxed shellac which isn't affected by the silicone. Personally I like a shellac finish on anything that doesn't need to resist martini glasses. You could continue to pad on shellac with a rag until you got the finish you desired. The other possibility that might look like acne spots is bleed out of the Watco from the open pores. Following on the acne theme, this will leave little glossy spots rather like black heads. This can be cured by wet sanding off the spots on the Watco using Watco as the lubricant. Then after wiping off the Watco from the surface keep coming back every half hour or less for a number of hours to wipe off any Watco bleeding out of the pores before it can set up.

3. 
   rich_mich | Oct 07, 2000 04:22am | #7

   *buy some hide glue, dilute it and apply it to the wood. Let dry, sand, and finish.

4. 
   Maureen_Williams | Jan 14, 2001 10:00pm | #8

   *More questions on blotching stains. I have to complete the finishing of a birch cradle (the maker has had to make an urgent trip away. The cradle has been sanded and the first application of minwax puritan pine stain has been applied. Unfortunately, the wood has very uneven density and the stain has take very unevenly. There are dark areas where the grain of the wood is more vertical. On close inspection it appears as if the stain has penetrated very deeply, leaving a very fine, very dark speckled appearance.The question is what to do now ? I have tried sanding (fine sandpaper and fine steel wool), this does work but I am concerned that once the second layer of stain is applied,the problem will just get worse. Is the solution to start again ? and apply a wood conditioned or hide glue size ?Any suggestions would be very welcomeMaureen