As Anthony mentioned wet sanding works great, here is the link to the
article in Fine Woodworking

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00117.asp

I work mainly with oak and walnut and this method works great. You get a
nice silky smooth surface with the grain showing nicely.

Rick


"Anthony VanCampen" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 12:57:52 +0000, Mike S. wrote:

There was a neat finishing method for open grain woods like oak in a Fine
Woodworking about a year ago. Varnish is fooded on to the surface and then
sanded in. The sandpaper make an oak sawdust slurry with the varnish, then
you wipe off the excess. Repeating the process with 180, 220 and 300 is
sand paper. Once the grain is filled you could continue to build and
polish coats.

Tigger