30 year old oak cabinets

[suds]

When we built our house 30 years ago we had solid oak cabinets installed.  Since it has just been my wife and me there has been very little wear to them.  I look at them and they look literally new but my wife can tell that there are areas where there is a little wear from fingers touching the wood.  The only way you can see it is to look at them in the light at a angle and then it's really difficult to see but there is a little wear.  We were going to have a company come in and touch them up by "wet sanding" and then applying a finish.  She is beyond a clean freak and we felt $3000 wasn't really needed to be spent on cabinets that looked 95% new.  Even they guy who was going to do the work was astonished that they were 30 years old. 
My question is, can I use fine steel wool to rub these down?  There are places where you can feel the grain and I'd like to make the cabinets glass smooth.  What would I use to put a finish on?  I've used Tongue oil on other projects but not sure this would be the best. 

 

[w802h]

What finish is on the cabinets now? Is it the tongue oil?

 

[suds]

Not sure, but it's not a painted finish because the grain is visible. 

 

[Paul G]

Oak and feeling the grain typically goes hand in hand. Has the grain been filled and the current surface smooth?

 

[suds]

Since I'm a rookie/novice I'm not sure what you mean.  There are very smooth parts of the grain and then somewhat rough parts.

 

[Paul G]

Since I'm a rookie/novice I'm not sure what you mean.  There are very smooth parts of the grain and then somewhat rough parts.

When you say the desire is a glass smooth finish on oak, that means you'll need to fill the grain of the wood. Since it is already stained and finished you'll probably want to use a clear filler topped by more final finish.

Here's some reading to help explain what I'm talking about.

http://www.rockler.com/how-to/using-wood-grain-filler/

Note: I haven't used this product, any oak projects I have done I left the grain open. On your project I'd want to test somewhere first to ensure compatibility of any new products with your existing finish.

 

[suds]

Tht looks like something I can experiment with on the inside of one of the drawers or cabinets. It seems that there are quite a few folks who don't care for the exposed grain

 

[rljatl]

Try paste wax.  Either clear or a colored wax to match the color of your cabinets.  That may be all you need to do.

 

[Paul G]

Tht looks like something I can experiment with on the inside of one of the drawers or cabinets. It seems that there are quite a few folks who don't care for the exposed grain

If I want something glass smooth I wouldn't be using oak in the first place and opt instead for a closed grain species. For me I just assume oak will be grainy since it's an open grained wood and save myself a lot of extra work.