New guy...

[Corey Kelley]

I don't even know if I'm in the right place. I'm new to Sawmill so I'm crossing my fingers. does anyone know a good way to stain baltic birch to give it an antique (semi-sailorish) look?

[John Gregory]

I got an email the other day from MinWax. The have new stains, Weathered Oak and Classic Gray. You might look at that. I have not used it, Just a thought

[Von Bickley]

Corey,

I love working with Baltic Birch but I have not had good luck with it and stain. Maybe one of the other guys will help us out with this one.

PS: Welcome to "The Creek".....

[Jim Rimmer]

There are three or four finishing gurus on the Creek that will probably chime in with some good advice. I am too old to remember their names, though.

Oh, and welcome to the Creek.

Edit: Just saw a couple of the names: Howard Acheson and Scott Holmes. And there are others.

[Ken Shoemaker]

Birch gets blotchy at the drop of a hat. Maybe gel stains are the ticket. But I'd go with the gurus, Scott and Howard, on this one.

[Jerome Hanby]

Haven't worked with Baltic birch, but we had a lot of blotching on a rock maple piece my wife was refinishing. She stripped it back down and used Min-Wax wood conditioner as the first coat and it came out perfect. I'm sure many other products work as well, but the Min-Wax worked so well that we never had a reason to try others... Might work well in your application.

[Scott Holmes]

Birch is indeed blotch prone.

Best approach is using dye, Gel stain would be next. As for the pre-stain conditioners, they partially seal the wood making the staining process more even in color but substantially lighter.

Sorry, your color "antique (semi-sailorish)" means nothing to me, colorwise.

What color(s) do you want?
What are you building?

[Harvey Pascoe]

Stains don't do much for creating an antique or aged effect. A common method of antiquing is to first seal the wood with a sealer (clear or colored to establish a base color) then when dry, wipe on an oil based paint of desired color, then rub it away leaving as much or as little desired remaining in the pores. Of course you should experiment with this method before trying on your project, and do not attempt this with water based paint.

[Bill White]

I use a "spit coat" of shellac. Zinsser Seal Coat cut with denatured alcohol fits my needs. This will seal the surface allowing a wiping stain to work without adding a great deal of time to the finishing process. Some woods ABSOLUTELY have to be sealed. I seal most all projects.
Bill