Thanks for all the help! What I learned:

1) I have a very understanding mother in law.
2) The wood conditioner product may be up to some tasks, but preventing
uneven absorption of dark, thin stain on alder is not one of them.
3) Some experimentation with 1/3# cut of shellac is in order, followed by a
thicker (higher viscosity) stain. I have seen this recommendation from a
lot of sources.

But the BIG lesson: try it on scrap. I have lots of woodworking experience,
but this one taught me a lesson.

We will probably paint the legs and skirt, and make a new top out of (real)
cherry. Again, thanks for all the help.

Matthew (three days older an maybe a bit wiser)

"Baron" wrote in message
news:d7a02$4311f127$cf6730f0$22637@allthenewsgroup s.com...
"Matthew" wrote in message
...
I am having big problems with staining table purchased from a unfinished
furniture store. My mother in law bought the dining table (30 in square
top
and skirt, four very nicely turned legs) for about $150. The wood looks
very much like cherry in grain, but is a light pink color, and about the
same weight and hardness as cherry.

I suspected troubles with staining, based on the texture of the sanded
surfaces, so I applied a wet coat of Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner.
In
some areas, the conditioner absorbed VERY quickly, so I brushed on more
in
these areas. (First warning, right?) After 15 min, I wiped the whole
peice
dry with a shop towel.

After another 30 min or so, I applied Minwax Wood Finish, Provincial
211
(which is more of a stain than a finish) which is quite thin and very
dark.
I brushed on the stain, let it set for 5 minutes, and wiped it off. In
most
areas (80% of the peice) I got just the color I was looking for.
However,
there are very dark areas all over, and on inspection, these are the
areas
where the grain is not parallel to the surface of the wood (big
surprise)
and the dark stain went well into the wood surface. I mean, this was
REALLY
bad -- worse case I have run into so far.

OK, so what went wrong? Several things come to mind.
1) The stain could have been too thin; maybe a thicker stain would not
have
been as likely to absorb so quickly.
2) If the wood conditioner helped, it didn't help much. I have used a
lot
of Minwax Wood Finish as stain, and have had mostly good experience with
the
wood conditioner, and have had **some** issues in the past, but nothing
like
this!

So here come the questions:
1) Any advice on how to consistantly get even stain are appreciated. I
DAGS on the several versions of the topic, but someone else's personal
experience is always invaluable.

You must wait about 24 hours after applying Minwax's Wood Conditioner.
Even with this, I suspect you still would have had some blotching although
not nearly as bad. A gel stain like Bartley's is very useful when it
comes
to minimizing blotching although you won't get as intense a color.
There are some other ways to minimize blotching such as applying a
spit
coat of shellac or glue size but Wood Conditioner or a gel stain are very
easy to use.

2) Any way to lighten the dark areas? I tried a rag and mineral spirits
to
no avail. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You don't say how long it has been but I am willing to bet that the
binder in the stain has set up. Minwax stains won't redissolve in mineral
spirits or alcohol once this happens. I can't say for certain but
Minwax's
Provincial may be a mixture of dyes and pigments. This makes chemically
stripping it quite a challange, even if you follow up with bleaches. What
you might be left with is a stripped piece that has a slightly different
color than you started with. That might not be a problem but you will
have
to adjust your finishing schedule to take it into account.

3) If I start over (a real damn possibility here) what brands and/or
types
of stain, or staining technique, have given better results?

As above, try a gel stain. I think Minwax may actually make one
nowadays.

Finally, before you do any staining again, try to get a scrap piece of
the wood that the furniture is made from, especially a piece that has
different grain patterns. Experiment on the scrap. You've already
experimented on the furnitiue.

Good Luck.