After the stain dries we polish with steel wool to cut the grain raise smooth. If the grain raise is not polished out the first coat of finish will be rough. You will need to sand between coats of finish with a 100 or 120 grit paper, now. The fish coat will become smoother with more coats of finish. It is not necessary for the 1st coat of finish to be completely cured before sanding between coats. It should powder when sanding. After the first coat is smoothed out, the second coat will not raise the grain and become more like a finish coat. With two coats down you may wait another day or so before the final coat, sanding with a finer paper. Grain raise is from fuzz not cut flush to the surface that absorbs the finish and stands up as it dries, making the surface rough.
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