My blotch control

Dick Metz (not 100% positive that is his name) used to write a column in a cabinetmaking magazine, and he always advocated gluesize when there were stain blotching problems. This was a mixture of glue with lots of water, and you can imagine the mild sealing that that could accomplish. I am curious if any readers of this post have anything to add to that subtopic.

As for the original post, hooray for you, and I can’t see why you would want to try another commercial product when you have solved the problem. I guess we’d all want to know is this stuff cheaper, and where can one find it?

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

Cheaper for me, yes, because I had it on hand.
I’m not advocating this use of the product because it is not specifically made for this use.
It can still be found and at a 50/50 dilution rate it will go a long way.
My intent was mainly to say that putting up with blotching is not necessary. But you will have to rethink your staining color choices. What used to seem dark will not be so dark with a blotch pre-treatment.

-- Website is finally up and running....www.woodandwrite.com

Lee:
I have used liquid hide glue size and diluted shellac as botch and pre-stain conditioners for decades.
It still works just like it has for centuries.

-- 温故知新

hobomonk, are you useing the liquid hide glue size and diluted shellac together or seperately ? And how much of a mix or dilution rate do you use?

Richard:
I use the hide glue sizing and the shellac separately.
I make my own finishing products, but you can use various store-bought solutions.
Titebond makes a Liquid Hide Glue that can be diluted with water to use a pretreatment.

Here’s a reference on hide glue sizing: Lee Valley

Zinsser SealCoat shellac can be diluted with denatured alcohol to about a 1lb cut as a pretreatment.
Mix shellac approximately one to one with the alcohol; adjust to taste.

-- 温故知新

I’ve been using Daly’s Benite under water and solvent based stains for years and it does a very good job of evening out stains.

Another thing to look into for blotch-proof coloring of woods like maple, cherry and alder is to use dyes. Either water soluble or alcohol soluble will work. Many alcohol soluble dyes are color fast and won’t fade whereas the water soluble dyes can fade when exposed to sunlight. Another nice thing about dyes is you can combine different colors to get exactly the color you want.

-- Don, Diamond Lake Custom Woodworks - http://www.dlwoodworks.com - "If you make something idiot proof, all they do is make a better idiot"

Good conversation. I must correct an error in my earlier post—Jerry Metz is his name. Carry on…I’m having lots of learnings here…

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

Lee,
I remember reading Jerry Metz’s column every month. I know he was a big proponent of glue-sizing on END GRAIN, not only for protection, but also for evenness of color after staining.

-- Kinky Friedman on gay marriage: "They should have the right to be just as miserable as the rest of us."

Thanks for remembering more than I did, tbone. So if you have, say, a 5 piece door with a raised panel and you want to tame the absorption on the end grain, do you size the whole piece and then sand the whole piece, leaving the sizing that’s absorbed more deeply in the end grain?

And would that same technique work on the OP’s maple? It seems like the areas that blotch on these problem woods are like end grain, occurring where the grain ceases to be parallel and more porous areas appear on the surface.

And can you make sizing from yellow glue or does it have to be hide glue?

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

D Allen
There are lots of things that help with blotching some better than others. I have tried many of them and many of them are better than no treatment at all. Some I would be concerned about there long term bonding properties.
Over 22 years of finishing Charles Neils blotch control worked best for me. I hadn’t heard anything about cold weather being a problem with shipping Charles products. I guess the best way to find out is to e mail Charles about it. charles@charlesneilwoodworking.com

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

http://www.wisnofurniturefinishing.com/2010/04/glue-size-in-wood-finish.html
This seems like a pretty good explanation of glue-sizing as compared to a sanding-sealer.

-- Kinky Friedman on gay marriage: "They should have the right to be just as miserable as the rest of us."

I recently did the Charles Neil product….and I got to tell you it worked great….way better then I thought it or anything would…I used it to refinish a pine vanity and on some poplar and they both turn out very good.

-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †