Sanding sealer is a good idea as it will help to uniform the stain
somewhat, and help prevent the grain from raising with the moisture. I
also like to mix my own stains, concentrated colorants with alcohol. The
alcohol keeps the stain from penetrating too deeply into the wood, which
keeps it uniform, and also prevents the wood grain from raising. This is
the way I stain quilt and flame maple when I'm building a guitar.
-dave-
At 05:32 PM 2/21/01 -0500, you wrote:
>There was a section on working with wood that mentioned that if
>staining softer woods they may tend to blotch instead of giving a uniform
>stain. The recommendation was to pre-treat it first with a sealant and then
>staining it.