I've been following this thread with some interest,

Steve Longley told us
>The table and bench are made from pine, ponderosa pine according to
>Dad,

and asked

>How do you get a medium dark stain on pine without the blotch?

and thereafter we've handed out the usual great galoot advice, i.e all
colours of opinion.

My advice is also worth what you paid for it. . .. .

First, lets understand about the blotch effect - as noted, it's
prevalent on instant grown pine. Nowadays boards are through sawn, and
the resinous content of growth rings frequently appears as the 'classic'
pine look.

Memory is hazy about Ponderosa pine, but does it suffer/feature a high
resin content? If not, then you're ahead of the Borg product. Look at
the grain, and decide if you have a stain friendly surface - tight,
parallel growth rings, all seen end on as a series of lines, and not as
the v or inverted v of a through sawn board where you are presented with
tangential cuts. The 'conditioners' mentioned are a means of overcoming
these resinous areas to allow the stain to penetrate.

Alternatively, and less satisfactory, is colour the timber using a
surface treatment such as shellac. After sealing the timber with a
couple of thinned coats, use garnet to produce as dark a colour as you
want. Here you run the risk of any damage revealing the underlying
timber though. Better to get some colour into the surface ready for
future chipping - Taken to extreme, professional places spray the colour
on (why would anyone *want* that ? )

So well and good, but no one has yet mentioned the traditional and
friendly van Dyke stain. Water based, and simple enough to reapply and
mess with until the colour is even. Again, start with a seal coat of
blonde shellac to control penetration, then switch to Van dyke, and work
away until you're happy. A wet cloth will take off most of what you
applied ( but rarely *all* ! ) and allow you to begin again. When happy,
apply more shellac over the top to protect and finish.

I suspect that you will have far less problem with your ponderosa pine
than with your test boards.

Richard Wilson Yorkshireman Galoot

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