Blotching in Cherry driving me nuts....SOS PLEASE HELP!

If you can wait to get the stuff, I would try Charles Neil's blotch control. It seems to be the best product out there. Wood conditioner or even thinned shellac can be hit and miss as you’re experiencing.

Be sure to watch the video, and good luck!

-- Childress Woodworks

Thanks childress – i just bought some after watching his youtube video. amazing stuff…..

Spike,
Just curious what kind of stain are you using? And what kind of wood are you trying to stain?

Stnich

Using Minwax oil-based early american stain on cherry.

Do you have spray equipment?

Splotching is uneven absorption of stain or dye- If you spray it – then it no longer matters if one area is “Thirsty” compared to the others, the whole surface gets the same amount of stain and no more, rather than wiping the excess off the dry areas and having dark spots where the grain drank it up.

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

No problem, Charles is also a member here and is always willing to help out. I’m sure you can send him a PM with any other questions and more than likely get a helpful response.

Dr. Dirt, have you had success with solid cherry using this method? Even with spraying a stain, I’ve still had problems with botching (on alder, not cherry), albeit not as bad as compared to applying by hand. The problem I’ve had is that the “thirsty” areas will suck up all the color while the other areas don’t. Curious…

-- Childress Woodworks

I contacted Charles and already bought his preconditioner…it looks like it works amazing. i think my problems are solved thanks to Charles!

Childress – yes I redid a set of end tables this way that they wanted to match a new sofa table.

The key was that the film was LESS than any of the areas could absorb. So 100% absorption everywhere.
Even if a spot was thirsty – there simply wasn’t any more stain that could be absorbed.

Basically your misting in the stain like a toner. But I still also sealed the wood with shellac first.

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

I used Charles Neils Blotch Control on a cherry crib and dresser and it turned out beautiful!

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

You have the right stuff Spike Charles Blotch control works great.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

One quick note about Charles Neil’s Blotch Control … avoid the temptation to sand with the finer grits before you apply it.

I had problems with the first project I used it on … just couldn’t get a good result. I sent Charles an email (he responds!), and figured out that the problem was that I had sanded to 400 grit, which made it hard for the blotch control to get enough material into the wood to do what it is supposed to do.

Charles suggested I sand to 220, which I did, and that fixed the problem. I have been happy as a clam with everything I have used it on since.

Which just proves … it helps to read the instructions!

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"