Reply by Shopsmithtom

It almost sounds like you’ve discovered the difficulties be staining it already, but assuming that’s not so, I’d practice with some stains on scrap pieces the check for the results you want. Also, you might want to consider giving it a coat of Zinsser’s sanding sealer & lightly sanding or steel wooling it before staining to help prevent blotchiness. But always practice first on scrap. You might want to try a couple of colors of gel stain to see if you like the way it applies. -SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you