Need Help Staining...

[Derek Arita]

I built a book case out of birch. My wife wants it stained and left a little streekie to give it more of a vintage look. There's a little confusion about sealers and stains. I'm thinking about using wax free Seal Coat Sanding Sealer straight, to reduce blotching. With that as the base, I'll use a water base stain, then go over the stain with a water based Poly.
Please let me know if my plan will work or not. I generally stay away from stains, so I know little, if anything, about using them. Thanks for your help.

[Jim Becker]

If you seal the wood with the de-waxed shellac...your water soluble stain or dye isn't going to be very effective. So-called "blotch reducers" are generally very, very dilute products that only marginally "seal" things to reduce absorption of dye/stain into the wood fibers. Sealcoat is a "top coat" consistency product out of the container. You could try reducing it substantially with alcohol on a test piece or three to see what the result is, however.

[Derek Arita]

I believe the directions say to dilute with alcohol. Are you saying that a sealer is not necessary to stain over for birch?

[Stan Calow]

What do you mean by "streekie" and "vintage"? Could you find a photo of something similar?

[Robert Hazelwood]

Sealcoat will work for blotch control but you want to thin it to about a 1/2 pound cut, or it might not take much stain as Jim cautioned. It's a 2 lb cut in the can, so add 3 parts alcohol. Let dry and sand back lightly, then apply stain.

As usual, do several test boards. Birch is tough to stain evenly. The grit that you sand to makes a difference as well, higher grit meaning less color and less blotch, coarser grit having deeper color and more blotch

[John TenEyck]

If you are spraying the Sealcoat I would shoot a light coat straight out of the can, w/o thinning. If you are applying it by brush or wiping then I would thin it 50%. Try out any option you are considering on scrap and decide what works best for you.

A completely different approach is to completely seal the surface with Sealcoat or your topcoat, and then apply a gel stain or glaze. You can get any effect you want with no worry of blotching. When the gel stain/glaze is dry, apply a compatible sealer, and then your final topcoats.

You have options, limited only by your patience, stubbornness and, to a lesser extent, your equipment.

John