I want to stripe stain some birch with two different color stains - one dark like provincial and another with a lighter gray stain. It would be striped. provincial, gray, provincial, gray, etc.

can I get some suggestions as to how to keep one stain from bleeding into the other?

tape suggestions? I've learned the hard way not all masking tapes are equal. (never, ever by HomeDepot HDX brand - EVAR)

I'm thinking stain one color, seal it with a varnish, then stain the other color.

L'il help?

3M fine line tape (auto body suppliers)and mask off the area you dont want stained and score the line between stain colors with an Xacto knife to prevent bleeding. Aniline stains are best for this, cut with alchohol and stain in layers to keep the likelyhood of bleeding down. I stained Carlos Santana's tri-color PRS using this method in the late eighties. Used Feibing's leather dye in powdered primary colors to get mix and shading right then polyester resin to fill, then lacquer toner to deepen shades. Three coats of BASF acrylic urethane clear coats then 1500 grit wet sand and buff.

Take your time and don't rush. When you score the line be aware your knife will want to follow the grain so you have to keep an eye on it. Practice on scrap wood first.

You can use heavily cut shellac to seal the wood before stain if you want to limit penetration and avoid blotchy spots from deep loose grain too.

I used a gel based stain and some kitchen self-adhesive contact paper to make this 30-years ago.  Did not need to score lines as noted above.  



Gel based stains are less likely to wick sideways with the grain than a liquid based stain.  I prefer General Finishes stains if a client insists on me staining something.  Not a fan of Minwax products but they will work in a pinch if you need to use them.  That's what I used on the chess board pictured above.  

General Finishes Gel stains

ETA, chess board is red oak for what it's worth.