arrgh blotchiness

[fallingacorn]

i posted an angel door mount the other day. i was really proud of it and thought i'd only finish it with some danish oil (K.I.S.S as the saying goes). i thought i'd sanded the birch nicely. and i had already read mac's article on avoiding blotchiness, but i guess it hadn't sunk in quite enough. so now that i have an angel with some white-ish spots, is there any way i can save the piece besides painting it? should i have sprayed or brushed something on the piece first? can i cut back on it and even out the coloring? is it a goner? and also what is the best way to attach it to the wall? i plan on stacking a duo of them this week (this time with baltic birch instead of plain) so any info can help me do a better job on them. is this just a way too basic question to be asking on this forum?
thanks
acorn
p.s. i have perused a ton of mac's articles. there is so much info i'm not sure how to put it to use i guess
p.s.s. i got my subscription to scrollsaw magazine yesterday too. much gratitude for this site

[Magpie]

There's no such thing as too basic a question ;p

What kind of Danish Oil are you using? Is that birch plywood you are using? What grit did you sand with? It seems that the cause of blotching would probably be from differing amounts of pores in the wood and if you use that type of wood again, you may want to use some kind of sealer. My best guess for the piece you have done (and I'm no expert) is to try multiple coats of oil, as it may even out a bit. Just remind your spectators that unusual colors on your wood are a feature, not a flaw!

[workin for wood]

I think you could have used a sealer first but not sure with oil finishes. I believe that most likely you didn't apply enough oil. Give it another coat. If it looks bad still, wipe it down with mineral spirits and you'll remove most of it, but never get all of it out, but don't wait too long to do that or the mineral spirits won't help. I hate stains, mostly because of this sort of problem. I mostly stick to all natural woods, let the nature of the wood speak for itself.

[fallingacorn]

i was using watco danish oil, "natural" color. it was a plain birch ply. i am now only using baltic birch for my work.
i probably didn't sand well enough, but part of the piece seemed to be discoloring from the first ply thinning out, revealing the next (kind of an orange color on wood that is basically white-ish). should we really be spending a lot of time sanding plywood, or will it do more harm than good at some point?
i tried danish oil this time because i've seen a few posts on this forum highly recommending it for all works.
i dunked the piece in a tray of oil while basting the fret work with a dipped brush. i think i did three coats, maybe only two. i've since read of using a washcoat, consisting of one part sanding sealer and one part lacquer thinner.f i think until i've studied up more i'm going to use the technique from the dvd i got in the mail yesterday, jeff zaffino's mastering the art of scroll sawing. half blo, half paint thinner (i've been using denatured alcohol previously for this mix). i'll try danish oil on items that i'm not afraid to sand on for a while.
thanks for the advice and any more that might come.
a quick edit: right after i wrote this post i sat down to sand on some BB i got from rockler and could easily tell it holds up to sanding incredibly better than the birch ply or the oak ply i was using previously-- bought from Lowe's i think

[Magpie]

Actually, if you google blotchy birch, you'll find that many people say blotchiness is caused by TOO MUCH sanding, instead of not enough. As an intarsia freak, I didn't know you could ever sand too much I do think a better quality wood will help. I think you would probably have this type of problem with any finish. I use tons of Danish oil on all kinds of projects and I love it

You can't go wrong following Jeff Zaffino, and also I'd suggest Teri Masaschi's book Foolproof Finishing--it's excellent.

[workin for wood]

I don't normally ever hear of danish oil being blotchy in the first place. I think you are on to something with the sanding. If you sanded too much then the birch veneer becomes really thin and the finish would then make it become transparent to what is below it. Makes total sense. Lowes plywoods are likely to have a thinner veneer to start with, not to mention a lower tolerance for voids in it.