This post is a follow up to a post I made yesterday about a desk I stained that come out blotchy, after sanding and using pre-stain conditioner. This is not necessarily a DIY, but it is something that could possibly help future DIY projects.Post from yesterday can be found here: http://ift.tt/2nzFR59 received many different answers from people with years of woodworking experience and those that tried different methods and yielded great results. Thanks again to everyone that responded with help and suggestions! Since the backside of my desk was already sanded, but not stained, I decided to do a very crappy and non-scientific experiment using the different methods suggested. I divided half of the desk into four quadrants, with four different methods used.To get a few things out of the way, the desk used is a raw Birch wood desk from Ikea, called the Hammarp. I sanded down both sides using a random orbital sander, starting with Diablo 150 grit sanding discs, followed by 220 grit. The surfaces were wiped down with a tack cloth. All stain applied with a foam brush.Upper Half: This was what the wood looked like after random orbital sanding (150/220) with no pre-stain or stain. I guess this could be a control.Upper Left: After sanding as mentioned above, I did not apply any pre-stain and directly applied stain and let sit for one hour. After one hour, I wiped off an excess with a microfiber towel.Upper Right: This area had already been sanded with the ROS from 150 to 220 grit, but I sanded it again using an old and pretty beat up 220 grit sanding disc. No pre-stain was used, I went right to stain and wiped up excess after 10 minutes.Lower Left: Pre-stain was heavily applied, wiped up after 10 minutes and stained immediately after. After sitting for 10 minutes, I wiped up the excess stain.Lower Right: I used a hand block with a brand new piece of 220 grit sandpaper to go over this area. I didn't use any pre-stain. I applied stain and wiped the excess after 10 minutes sitting.Here's the results after drying for 12 hours: http://ift.tt/2ocOXYi seems pretty clear that the area I hand sanded with 220 grit has the most even stain compared to the other areas. Many have mentioned that birch is notoriously hard to stain, and I completely area with that, but I think with proper sanding, relatively even results can be achieved. You can see that the outside edges of the quadrant are a little blotchy and that's because I didn't put as much effort there as I did in the center.(Opinion) Another very critical part of achieving even stain is using constantly fresh sandpaper. After doing that small area, the 220 grit sandpaper was already gunked up with an shiny clumps dust collected. This happened very fast while using the random orbital sander as well, and I think is a big cause behind the blotchy stain. I'm not the real explanation to the blotchiness is caused by a piece of sandpaper with clumps of sawdust, but the most evenly stained area is the spot I used a fresh piece of sandpaper.Experts on sanding; I'm not sure if it's the nature of Birch, but what am I doing wrong to clog up a clean sanding disc or paper? I'm using light pressure and speed to sand, but regardless of what I do, my disc/paper needs to be changed almost immediately.I hope this might help at least those staining birch (I know the Ikea desks are popular), but feel free to ask me any questions. via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2nPQbYX
