Mentioned by others, but that mottled stain will be difficult to overcome. Have you considered paint rather than stain? If wood grain is very important, you could try to tint a poly finish - that would prob give the appearance you want - basically painting though.
Recently encountered this issue. Solution was many, many coats of stain and prestain, over about 4 days, light scraping with a sharp card scraper to level the surface each time.
After that ordeal, I have now learned that the pro move is a light base coat of Shellac, then on to the stain. I guess that helps to close pores more uniformly. Haven’t tried this way yet myself. Good luck!
Mentioned by others, but that mottled stain will be difficult to overcome. Have you considered paint rather than stain? If wood grain is very important, you could try to tint a poly finish - that would prob give the appearance you want - basically painting though.
Recently encountered this issue. Solution was many, many coats of stain and prestain, over about 4 days, light scraping with a sharp card scraper to level the surface each time.
After that ordeal, I have now learned that the pro move is a light base coat of Shellac, then on to the stain. I guess that helps to close pores more uniformly. Haven’t tried this way yet myself. Good luck!