How Do You Finish Unfinished Oak Cabinets?
Finishing a new, unfinished oak cabinet is your chance to give it whatever kind of look you want. The classic approach with a fine wood like oak is to use a light-colored stain (so it highlights the natural grain of the wood without obscuring it), then seal it all in with some form of gloss (polyurethane is the best choice today) to protect the wood from moisture and wear. Pre-sanding the wood is an important part of the process, because it opens the pores in the wood and assists in the penetration by the stain. Sand the entire cabinet by hand, using 150-grit sandpaper. Fold the paper and rub the oak surface in quick, light strokes, to take off just the surface layer and open up the wood pores. Brush away the dust. Remove all knobs, hinges and other hardware, using your screwdriver. Remove all doors and other parts that come off and set them aside on spread-out newspapers. Hang more newspapers on the walls around any mounted parts of the cabinet, securing the newspapers with masking ta
