Staining two different wood species

A sign of fine woodworking is pairing several wood species together in a project. Here I am making a tabletop using two veneers, ash and cherry. The challenge I frequently have is getting the two different species to be exactly flush. There should be no bump when running your finger across the glue line. I typically use a biscuit joiner to align the tops before gluing, but the finger is sensitive to any bump. I've come to the conclusion that I have to allow for light sanding. But this will prevent me from staining the pieces before glue up.

To accent the pores in the ash, I have applied Minwax Gel Stain Honey Maple. Using a paper towel, I wipe the gel off across the grain. This leaves the colored stain in the pores. Lightly sand the ash using 180 grit sandpaper after the stain has dried. If you can smell the solvent from the stain, then it's still drying. The ash will be dyed after glue up.

After gluing the pieces together, I lightly sand the surface with 180 grit to make the top perfectly smooth. The ash needs to be dyed a light brown and the cherry a light red. I use water based dyes made using Homestead's TransTint. The problem is keeping the dyes from staining the wrong species. I masked the cherry with tape and sprayed the ash with the dye and after it dried, I sprayed a thin coat of Bulls Eye Clear Shellac.

The tape did a great job of protecting the cherry from being dyed. Next I need to apply the red dye. Rather than having to cover the ash with tape, the shellac will prevent the red dye from being absorbed. See how it beads up on the ash. Simply wipe it up with a paper towel.

Let the red dye dry and spray it with shellac. Even after the dye has dried, a water based finish can ruin it, so the shellac creates a barrier between the two. Finally, spray a coat of Minwax Polycrylic on the surface. Let it dry for several hours and run your hand across the surface. Any small bumps can be leveled using a 3M gray colored Scotch-Brite ultra fine pad.

One more coat of Polycrylic and then you have a smooth table top you can be proud of.