Fixing Blotchy Birch

[StlIrish13]

I recently built a queen bed using birch ply panels, solid birch trim, and poplar posts. The bed came out great but I am having a minor issue with the finish. I started by dying everything with Transtint brown mahogany (mixed at about 1 oz/1qt), followed by a washcoat of Zinsser Sealcoat (diluted 50/50 with alcohol), and two coats of General Finishes Java Gel stain. The side rails, which were built with solid birch (no ply), came out exactly how I wanted, and I finished them with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. The headboard and footboard are where the problem lies. While the trim and posts look fine, the panels (ply) are pretty blotchy. I'm hoping to be able to fix the blotch problem without having to sand all the way down, as everything else on the bed looks fine. I'm wondering whether I could do the best I can lightening up the dark spots with mineral spirits, then lay down a second coat of shellac (or as many as are necessary to get a good seal), followed by a final coat of Java gel? My guess is that my initial washcoat wasn't thick enough, hence the bad blotching. Would an interim coat help, or I am best off biting the bullet and sanding back down? My concern with sanding down the panels and starting over is that they won't match the trim as well. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[StlIrish13]

I've attached a couple of pictures. The side rail on the left is shown fully finished (4 coats of Arm-R-Seal). The side rail on the right is shown midway through the topcoat finishing. The headboard is shown under direct light, and looks lighter and redder than when under natural light.

[JeffBranch]

I recently built a bed out of pine and used Charles Neil's pre-stain conditioner. I did not apply it perfectly and had some dark streaks after applying a medium brown stain. This was limited to the foot board. I sanded it down and started over. I was able to repeat the process with conditioner and stain, but the sanding caused additional problems.

In my opinion, I think your finish looks fine, especially the second photo - I like the color variation and you have done a good job with the finish. I'd leave it alone. But, if you insist on a more even color, I'd go the route of a gel stain and avoid sanding or lightening the finish. To me that would be hard to do without causing further problems.

Good luck!

Jeff

[StlIrish13]

Thanks, Jeff!

[Trip]

==> The panels (ply) are pretty blotchy

Anything you do from this point on has inherent risks, so you may want to leave well enough alone unless you are prepared to replace the panels. If you have some cut-offs, finish them to the same point and try some spot lightening and see how it comes out... Try some sanding to see how far you can go... Basically, if you can't live with it as it is, then experiment with cut offs prior to the panels.

If the ply is REALLY good quality, you may get away with sanding/refinishing - depending on how much initial sanding you have already performed, but it would be 50/50 AT BEST.

For a really blotchy surface (like birch panels), the best blotch control that I have found is spray 1/2 to 1lb cut super blonde shellac followed by a thin dye, then 1/2lb cut to seal it in. Blotch control is why many take to spraying in the first place... Gel Stains are good (spent quite a bit of time with them on cherry), but not magic. For that matter, neither is spraying, but the even application of dye via spray lays down a fixed amount of dye over a given area and thus limits (mostly) potential uneven absorption of the dye (what causes the blotch in the first place). CN's blotch control also works well, but I've never used it on birch panels and only sprayed it...

Good Luck...