Red cedar roughness

I have just finished a cabinet in non Oz red cedar.
Beautiful grain but the sides of some of the boards have rough areas which no amount of sanding or polishing seems to remove.I finished with Tung oil and polish hoping could try burnishing but no joy. Doesn't photo clearly but a bit like fine end grain in appearance. Supplier says a characteristic of the species and when asked how could remove had no ideas.
Any comments on a solution? Yes I know I shouldn't have been tempted by the price, and there's another lesson learned the hard way.

Cedar can have large pores and it may be that you have some pieces where the pores come through lengthwise along the plank. I have had it in some Jarrah that I used to make a box from. There are three things that you can do, grain fill and sand back, sanding sealer then build up the tung oil by burnishing over the top, or learn to appreciate the timber for what it is.

I'll bet it is african cedar. Buy cheap and get the extra work to go along with it. For this stuff filling won't help. Wet it down with warm water, let it dry then apply shellac based Sanding Sealer and when dry sand with 600 or 800 grit do it again if needed. It's bloody horid stuff. As a rule oiling won't help and neither will anything else. In my experience, you really need to finish it with shellac to get it right, sanding with 800 grit after each couple of coats.

Cheers - Neil