On the current project in my shop, raw wood (QSWO) was sanded to 220, dampened to raise grain, lightly sanded to 320, dyed, “sanded” with synthetic steel wool (320 & 1000), stained, “sanded” with synthetic steel wool, 5 coats of arm-r-seal with 400 grit sandpaper in between each coat. After each sanding, wiped with micro fiber cloth, vacuumed and wiped with naphtha. Sanding often means one light pass with worn sandpaper. Finish came out very nice, very smooth.
The point of the details is that sanding during finishing means as little sanding as necessary to smooth the surface, be it raw wood, or top coat.