BLO tends to darken with time, it’s quite possible that the blank was wiped down with it years ago.

I use TransTint stains, find them very economical and quiet user friendly. I’ll mix Trans Tint stain with a little bit of alcohol, then mix with BLO (TransTint won’t mix directly with BLO, so I mix it with alcohol first). I’ll use the TransTint/BLO mixture to stain the stock. And use the same mixture when I’m rubbing out the finish…to me it seems to minimize the “burn thru” of the initial staining.

Mike Hunter
www.mikehunterrestorations.com