Hello! 1st staining project and yes it is not good. Table top and sides is maple veneer. Legs and edges of table top are definitely a different wood but not sure what kind. Sanded existing finish from 120 up to 220. Used minwax pre-stain conditioner and one coat of minwax oil stain. Blotch central. Worried if I sand it back down to bare wood it risks ruining the thin maple veneer. Trying to figure out best path forward to fix this. Or just live with it. Thank you for any advice!
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Looks like you didn't get all the original finish off. That's almost definitely what's caused the blotching. But tricky to remove an oil stain. Maybe try alcohol in an inconspicuous spot? And instead of using a true stain in future maybe use a dyed coating like a polyurethane that's been tinted? Experiment some where inconspicuous.
Maple is a hard wood to stain, especially with a pigmented stain like Minwax, without getting blotchy. Some maple veneers have such inconsistent (fine to open) grain that the conditioner doesn’t help much. I also think that sometimes the glue used on these tables penetrated the veneer unevenly from the back side so that the stain doesn’t penetrate evenly. Most veneers I’ve seen on old table tops had no backing, just a single layer of veneer.
My opinion is the best way to proceed is to use a glaze. You can use a gel stain for this or buy a glaze, Old Masters makes one as do a few other companies. The glaze lays on top of your existing finish, it does not penetrate, and you can manipulate the glaze to get the look you want. You’ve tackled a tough finishing project for a first project.