GF Water based Wood stain too dark - my bad

[whit richardson]

I've been restoring some saber leg chairs that were really in bad shape finish wise and other. I found a GF water based stain that seemed pretty good when wiped on a leg or two but when I sprayed using an Earlex with 1.5mm tip it comes out too dark, smh. Shoulda tested more yep I know, and I may have to strip that one back down. So anyone who uses GF's water based wood stains help me out, hand wipe shows way lighter than spray. First I have a 1.0mm I'll switch to in the sprayer. But should I consider thinning the stain down some too? my test sprays on scrap wood looked good but on the chairs with some old stain left behind it's way darker.

thanks for any help here.