Keith,
Thanks for taking the time to help. What I have is solid oak with some really spectacular grain. They are drawer fronts (6" x 24" red oak planks) for a media (CD, DVD etc.) storage unit, 12 drawers, holds 1500+ standard CD cases. I bought one extra plank for testing. I plan to mask it in half, stain one half in medium oak and poly, then the other half in the black satin. The planks were simply planed and sanded at the mill that cut them for me. I did a 3/16 round-over on the edge. Should I do any specific prep before applying the 3 coats of laquer, other than hitting it with a tack cloth? Should I sand between coats? The grain is pretty open, so I will probably go with your 3M finishing pad idea for the top coat. I appreciate your patience. I am pretty new to woodworking, but the construction of the cabinet (from an existing entertainment center) and the drawers (from scratch) has gone pretty well.
thx again,
Bryson