(On other forums) I keep seeing people recommend wood conditioners.   Flexner (as well as I) were puzzled why they work so poorly when used as directed.   I don't use them much but find much better luck with better quality stains.   But I repeated his experiment on a piece of poplar with a popular yellow can wood stain.   Various wait times from left to right are 0 minutes, 30, 60, a few hours and overnight.  While still not perfect, it's a vast improvement.  Lately, I've done a few experiments with a dilute (1/2# cut) shellac, and that is showing promise.

 

 

Wood conditioners

 

Wash coats

Thanks!

The photo above shows my box of step boards (see that topic).

 

I have an area of pine that I need to make darker, but worried about splotching.   I did a quick wipe with thinned shellac as a "wash coat" and let it dry while I worked on other pieces.   I think it came out without any splotching at all.  60+ year old wood on the inside of a piano.

 

 

 

On 6/12/2021 at 12:46 PM, kmealy said:

Various wait times from left to right are 0 minutes, 30, 60, a few hours and overnight.

Do you find that the overnight stain becomes thick & sticky on the surface of the wood? Or is it just me?

Anytime that I've waited for an extended period of time the solids lay on the surface of the wood similar to paint, but don't really dry. Then I have to scrape the gummy residue off so that the absorbed stain can dry before I recoat.