Finishing recommendations for red oak....

We've been doing a great deal of work with red oak over the past few months on
an arts and crafts style home. Beams, moldings, mantles and archways are all
red oak finished to match some of the original architectural woodworking. We
take pains to mill it without tear out, which you need to watch for on this
large grained wood. Then we finish it to 150grit, taking pains not to lift
edges (and impail our hands on gigantic splinters) when breaking them. Use
sandpaper wrapped around a block with slightly rounded edges to avoid this. We
then flood it with a golden oak/walnut stain mix to start. Then we apply 2
coats of dyed satin varnish, sanding lightly in between. We leave the pores
only partially filled. It looks nice.

JP