Dick Snyder wrote:

May I ask those of you who have finished a project that is made of oak
plywood to share your experiences about finishing such a project
(unstained)?

Usually, I prefer an open or semi-open grain on red oak, semi-open on
white oak. On table tops, I'll keep going until I fill the grain with
finish, if required.

My _favorite_ hand-applied, natural, semi-open look on red oak goes like
this:

PRACTICE ON SCRAP, both to get the hang of it and see if you like the look!

- Sand to 150 (you can probably start _&_ finish w/ 150 on plywood)
- Vacuum or blast & tack rag the dust away
- Apply one full-strength coat of Zinnser Seal Coat with a foam brush
- wait an hour or two
- Carefully apply one coat of Pratt & Lambert gloss varnish or Sherwin
Williams Fast Dry gloss varnish. Use a good brush pre-wetted with
mineral spirits to apply the varnish. Don't puddle it or glop it on.
- Wait one day for the SW FD or (2) for the PL
- lightly scuff & remove any dust nibs with 320 grit and a felt block
- wipe with a clean tack rag
- apply another coat of gloss varnish
- wait again, as necessary
- VERY lightly remove any dust nibs w/ 320.
- rub out (with the grain) with med & fine pumice & rottenstone,
stopping at the level of gloss you want. For a good semi-gloss look,
you won't need the rottenstone. Use paraffin oil as a lube and and old
t-shirt material and felt blocks as rubbers.
- paste wax as desired.

This will leave you with an "almost filled" look on the grain, with the
Seal Coat and oil varnishes adding a slight amber tone that will deepen
in a short time. If you start to rub out and things don't seem right,
give the varnish more drying time.

If this is an entire kitchen, I'd probably switch to sprayed lacquer
after the seal coat. The boxes would get a third coat of semi-gloss
lacquer, the doors and drawer fronts, gloss. I'd typically only rub out
the door and drawer fronts and end panels. Face frames and insides are
fine right off the gun, sprayed semi-gloss.

Drips and runs are easily removed with a sharp card scraper, sanding
will often round the bump over. The details of all of my steps are in
the Flexner book you mentioned.

Have fun!
Barry