Reply by yrob

I was just experimenting with cherry and pine who both are prone to blotching for a piece I am about to finish.

Indeed gels will eliminate blotching but they change the color. Another option which works well enough is to first use a coat of wax-free shellac diluted to 1lb cut or less. Let it dry and very lightly sand with 320 to remove the nibs. Apply your oil stain on top of that. The shellac will partially seal the cherry (but not completely since its a very diluted one) and allow for the oil stain to penetrate evenly rather than blotch.

I did not come up with this idea, it is a technique that is described by Bob Flexner in his book “Flexner on Finishing”.

Once you are satisfied with the look of it, lock in the stain by another few coats of dewaxed shellacs, making sure its dry between coats and using 320 grits each coat. After that’s dry, you can apply any kind of polyurethane or other varnish to make it durable.

-- Yves