Quote Originally Posted by Telephonepete View Post
yes but as you know water based raises the grain and you have to sand down again'. with oil and spirit far less so you dont remove any stain. if going for a certain affect i sometimes use water based stain.
I am not an expert, I suggest you steam all of the stock equally, this should remove any residual oils in the wood. Make sure the wood has dried, complete [very slowly] before staining. Different woods take stain in different ways, I am still learning, I use solvent based stains, applied with cotton cloth, [ & rubber gloves!] It dries fast & I can apply more if I want a darker finish, hope this helps regards Al.