Prestain conditioner is designed for use on virgin(unstained) wood---was not necessary to use.

It is always necessary to wipe the surface after the oil stain has dried, there are usually always extra particles that need to be removed.

And a light hand sanding is usually necessary after stains have dried.

Finishes are finicky. And finish manufacturers are very often less than truthful about their products until you get deep into the fine print.

I've never used the product you used (Formbys) simply because I learned a long time ago there are much better finishes---they are just hohum normal stuff like varnish or lacquer. Or even shellac.

And shelf life has a HUGE impact on the viability of most finishes. It sounds like the actual container of finish was way over the expiration date. If it is, do not use it again as it will just compound the problem.

You should be able to get the finish off fairly easily with whatever is the base for the finish---alcohol/thinner/etc.---since it sounds like it is not drying.

I'd use a wiping varnish---lacquer feels better to me, but the fumes require a filter half face(or more) respirator. Just get the product from a real paint store and not a hardware/home improvement store.

Thank you both. Handy, it never occurred to me this stuff could be out of date. Bob - I was hoping you'd chime in. I've read a lot of your posts on tung oil - after the fact.

I'm embarrassed to say my first attempt was a light sanding followed by stain followed by polyurethane. It was hugely blotchy, just awful. I thought the poly might even it out. I then sanded down to raw wood but not everywhere. I started worrying about taking off too much wood, and I did a horrible job on the round bits at the base, so I switched to a finer paper surface sanding and moved on to round 2 which, as you know, has also not gone well. The ugliest part is the part I did take down to raw wood shown in the images above.

So the new plan is: wait and see, then do it right.
Do I sand after stripping or just leave the wood alone?
Can you please tell me what to use for the stripper, stain and finish? It seems as though waterlox and formby's are the same type of thing - a wiping varnish. I bought boiled linseed oil after being tired of the fumed, but it doesn't sound like that's a protective finish.

Out of curiosity, what type of wood do you think I have? There are occasional dark bits, as at the base, that could drive a lesser woman to distraction...

Looks like hemlock.
Finish problems because stain probably did not have time to cure.
Always use fresh materials.
Casey

Rats, I wrote a big response and it disappeared :-(

Rats, I wrote a big response and it disappeared :-(

I still prefer water based aniline dye and brushing lacquer (Deft 'clear wood finish).

it takes a few coats to build, but unlike polyurethane and varnish the coats melt into each other.

If you use the gloss you can reduce the sheen to any level you want.

casey - hemlock would explain a lot. Is there any way to know items are fresh? They don't seem to have expiration dates on them.

bob - thanks for trying.

brick - I looked up aniline dye and found a product called "Trans Tint Dyes" at the link below. Is this what you mean? What is the proper way to prepare the wood for this - strip, sand, stain? Do I need a wood conditioner to prevent blotchiness? Can you recommend a lacquer for me? Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: Dyes