Wood – How to remove excess wood stain that dried before I could wipe it off

Staining will highlight any imperfections in the wood. From the photo it looks like something has been wiped across the grain. That could be when you wiped the sawdust away or possibly if you wiped the stain across the grain.

Having a good surface to stain is pretty much essential as the stain will highlight even the smallest imperfections.

Applying thin coats as John suggests is the best way.

Also, don't forget that the wood will age - especially for something left outside - so any imperfections you see now will blend over time.

The best time to remove glue that squeezes out is about 30-60 minutes after the glue-up. At this point it's still soft enough that you can easily scrape it off but it's stiff enough that it won't smear and make more of a mess. When it's past that point and you realize you still missed some, the best solution is still to scrape with a card scraper and/or sand it.

Scraping works really well if it has only been a day or less and the glue is not yet rock hard. You should be able to sand by hand if you are worried about overdoing the sanding and gouging the wood. Use a flat sanding block for the flat areas and a foam-backed block for the curved parts. For the corners you can fold your sandpaper and back it with your fingers.

I don't think mineral spirits are likely to remove dried Titebond, and if you get a solvent that can dissolve it, how will you keep from just smearing it around into larger patches? This will be especially a problem on red oak, because of the large pores of the wood that will trap the dissolved glue. If you go this route anyway, I suggest trying it on some scrap before the real project to make sure it works as desired.