screwdriver, it was a workout to say the least! later we got smart and used the drill, and joey took over most of those duties.
but the staining itself is a snap. i broke our kitchen up into sections for staining, and i would say that each section took under a half hour for each coat of stain, and even that is being generous. the long part was waiting for it to dry and cure, i waited at least 24 hours in between coats. i did three really light coats on the cabinet frames and the doors. although in my experience the doors really sucked up the stain a lot more 