This is my first ww project ever. I'm building a builtin-desk with some prefinished honey oak base cabinets. So far I've done pretty well but the finishing part is confusing me to no end. I read John Paquay's "Finishing Oak And Other 'Open-Grained' Woods", Bob Flexner's book on "Understanding Wood Finishing" and many threads in this NG and they have helped me greatly. Now, I'm kind of overwhelmed. I've got two ideas so far:
Sand the ply with 220 grit. Apply Minwax Gel Stain with a slight honey tint. Sand with 400 grit? Apply Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane Sand with 400 grit? Apply Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane
Second:
Sand with 220 grit and then 320 grit. Apply 50/50 mix of Sherwin-Williams Sher-Wood Natural Filler\Minwax Oil-based Wood Finish (per Mr. Paquay's instructions). Don't sand. Apply thinned coat of the topcoat as a sealer (not sure what type and how to thin it). Don't sand. Apply full strength topcoat (not sure what) Sand carefully with 320+ Repeat the full strength topcoats and 320+ sanding.
I do plan on testing these with scrap but some clarification would really help.
Thanks in advance.
Chris