Birch Ply Finishing Question

[Mark Hulette]

I'm doing a quick TV stand for M-I-L's new 32" set and I ran out of red oak ply for the vcr shelf. Substituted birch ply thinking I would stain with MinWax Red Oak to match. Having read that birch has a tendency to splotch I need advice about how to keep this from happening.

Do you use MinWax Wood Conditioner? If not, what have you used successfully?

I'd also like to use a tung oil finish but that's another question...


Thanks!

[Ken Salisbury]

I'm doing a quick TV stand for M-I-L's new 32" set and I ran out of red oak ply for the vcr shelf. Substituted birch ply thinking I would stain with MinWax Red Oak to match. Having read that birch has a tendency to splotch I need advice about how to keep this from happening.

Do you use MinWax Wood Conditioner? If not, what have you used successfully?

I'd also like to use a tung oil finish but that's another question...


Thanks!

Yes Mark -- use Minwax Wood Conditioner and you should be able to come very close to a color match on the shelf. I use it on birch ply all the time.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Mark, I have used Minwax Wood Conditioner on many "Softwood" projects, and the results have always been very good. I have never used it on Birch Ply, but I have no reason to think that it wouldn't produce a very even stain color. I would try it on a scrap of the Birch Ply, versus a scrap with out conditioner. Minwax Red Oak Stain is fairly dark, so I think it would stain and blend in with the Red Oak Ply good enough to get by. Especially on the VCR shelf, which will probably be covered by the machine, for the most part. Try leaving the stain on the Oak Ply longer than you leave it on the Birch...........that way the color will have a better chance of matching. (The birch will absord more of the stain overall than the harder grain areas of the Oak, IMHO.) Good Luck, let us know how it turns out.