You may want to use a cabinet scraper instead of a sander for bed wood to remove the tool marks. The reason being that the scraper cuts the grain but the sandpaper kind of frays it. The stain will take much better, especially in the case of oak which has a more open pore structure (which should be filled before staining). The wood will also be slightly more resistant to rot and dings.

A cabinet scraper basically a flat piece of spring steel with an edge that has a burr burnished onto it. You can get wood to a finish flat surface in just a few strokes.


Paint & Body Shop moderator
A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.