Refinish Birch door

[Steven J Corpstein]

I just got finished stripping a Birch door and want to match existing stain. I know from past experience that chemically stripping wood has it's merits and pitfalls.

One of the pitfalls that I hope to avoid is the stain coloring unevenly. What is the most forgiving type of stain? Gel, oil or something else?

I have a feeling that the stain will soak in differently, depending on how well the stripper removed the deep down varnish.

It looks good, but trouble may be lurking beneath the surface. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[Todd Burch]

To completey prevent blotching in birch, you have to completely seal the wood first. Seal Coat will do the trick nicely. Then, put stain on the Seal Coat, and seal again with whatever your topcoat of choice is. I would use a dye stain or a gel stain. There's no point in using an oil based stain, in my opinion, once the wood is sealed.

[Tom Wiggins]

So if birch has a layer of nitrocellulose lacquer on it already could a gel stain be put on without removing the lacquer?

My daughter bought some dining table chairs to go with a maple table. Only the legs of the chairs are exposed and they are birch. She was planning on either making chair covers which covered the legs or stripping the legs and staining/painting them to go with the table.

I had found a patent (http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5480680.html) for a product which allows you to stain without stripping the nitrocellulose layer, but I can't find the product.

Thanks for your help.