Advice: Conditioner on Veneer

[lothian]

Should I use pre-stain wood conditioner (PSWC) on wood veneer prior to stain?

I've repurposed a ReStore find into a quite functional, much-needed custom piece. I'm applying veneer to the flats and apron. I intend to stain the thing with a dark oil and buff it to a satin finish with wax. I'm leaning toward Minwax '2716' oil; and Minwax recommends oil-based PSWC--I understand that shellac and boiled linseed oil can also be used as PSWC.

I don't want to mess up here at this last phase of my project. I am unfamiliar with pre-stain wood conditioner; however, I'm plenty familiar with the uneven stain phenomenon.

Advise, suggestions, recommendations?

 

[Hmerkle]

do you have enough sample veneer to try it both ways?

The short answer is, it depends... In my experience many veneers would not benefit from wood conditioner, but you may have something that needs it... an other alternative is to lay down a light (thinned) coat of shellac...