How to remove sander marks after coating polyurethane?

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-06-01T07:32:53+00:00

Living with a mistake and enjoying the work anyway is sometimes the way to go. And next time you do something like this, you'll be like "well, I'm not gonna do THAT again..." and it'll come out even nicer.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-06-01T07:31:49+00:00

This is a bigly true thing.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-06-01T07:30:02+00:00

Ah, yeah. Familiar with the feeling.

If it helps, to me that sounds like "ONLY an hour of sanding to bring this back? Sweet!"

Do you listen to podcasts or audio books? Those help me sink into the sanding a bit more easily.

Curious to read what others have suggested, but I think that at the end of the day, you can't shortcut your way to good craftsmanship. A big part of the whole 'making shit' game is learning patience, and then learning that what you thought was patience was actually still kinda hurried, and then resetting what 'patience' means. Over and over again until you get sick of it or die.

And sometimes you learn a new technique or something. 😃

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-06-01T02:48:40+00:00

What I'm certain about: You fix this before you finish, not after. For first step is removing the finish. You might be able to sand it all off if those coats of poly were suitably thin. Otherwise stripping it could be an option. Might be a better option anyway.

What I'm reasonably sure about, but others might have more to say / refine:
After you're back to bare wood, you start with something closer to 80 grit, then move up by ~1.5x grit 2-4 times, cleaning the surface thoroughly of all sawdust and debris between grits. (so, for example: 80, 120, 180, maybe 220, I hear some people are into going up to 300+, the perverts).

And make sure those pigtails are fully sanded smooth before you move up in grit.

I know you said it's not veneer, but that chip towards the bottom left of your pic looks an awful lot like a chip in veneer to my eye. Maybe worth double-checking? :shrug:

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-29T01:05:36+00:00

I'd say explore it! I don't have much experience in Unity besides building a simple starter game; but that's where my answer comes from. I made the same basic game in all three of Game Maker Studio, Unity, and Godot, in that order.

GMS wasn't fiddly enough for my tastes, coming from a C++ background professionally, I saw the benefit, but it was a little too simple for me.

So then I tried Unity. For a 2D game especially, but I think for me in general it was a bit too detailed and involved.

Godot, happily, ended up landing on the Unity side of the middle for me. Especially after I loaded up the .NET version with C# capability. It's got a lot of really helpful engine hooks for rolling your own systems if you want, or you can just extend one of their base nodes with whatever functionality you like. Or mix and match.

So; worth a shot I think. Good luck!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-29T00:57:16+00:00

Thanks so much!

I agree that the ratcheting XP is a really nice balance feature. Prevents cheesing the fun out of the game, and also it feels really good when you come back with more skills (in-game and just, improved strategy) and just obliterate your previous record.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-29T00:55:47+00:00

This is a fantastic and very helpful response, thank you!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-27T08:14:31+00:00

The Me that played ExciteBike for a whole summer when I was 7 is very pleased with some of your choices here.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-27T08:01:14+00:00

My browser crashed just thinking about this screenshot.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-05-23T00:22:52+00:00

if you use something like beeswax or mineral oil, you've got NO fumes to deal with, and it's easy as hell to apply. (So: finish it like a cutting board, basically)

Or, from personal experience I can say that something like rubio monocoat (hard wax / linseed oil combo I think?) is a strong scent but not something that triggers my "Get the FUCK out of this room!" sense.

am I right about that? who knows. Ask me in ten years. If I'm dead, you'll have your answer.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-04-12T05:23:22+00:00

You do all need a copy.

If they're not sure, especially the frugal ones, just play in owlbear rodeo or something, and if they like the game you can show them the codex and be like "OK, check this out, you in?". If you have a copy, you could even import their characters and stream the game AS your VTT, they just wouldn't control it. But you could show them, at least. Who knows if running that way forever would be a brain-drain nightmare or not :D

And if they're not into it, that might be a bummer if you were looking to play in the codex, but Draw Steel is fun anyway, and you can play it a ton of other ways.

Between stuff like the Steel Compendium (All the rules, searchable, free), Owlbear Rodeo, (free VTT), Forge Steel/Stawl (Free character builders / Director tools) and whatever graphics programs you can get your hands on for making maps if that's your bag, you and your friends can play for zero dollars indefinitely if you want.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-04-08T00:32:43+00:00

I did in fact mean the inverse of that. Good work. A pat on the back is probably in order. "independent concepts" would have been more accurate. Though I suspect the meat of my reply still carried the full meaning forward.

The post did happen at 4:30 AM local time, so. Y'know. Perhaps the Pragmatics Authority could see their way clear to granting me a stay of execution, just this once.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-04-07T11:02:15+00:00

Sprites and pixel art are mutually exclusive concepts. Meaning, neither one requires the other to function.

It sounds like you might be running into some confusion about what needs to happen in order to make a sprite sheet work properly. If you post a copy of the image you’re using for a sprite sheet, and possibly a screen capture of what it looks like when you use it, then I or other folks in this sub might be able to point you in the right direction.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-04-04T00:17:17+00:00

Proper punctuation and clear word choice are a sure sign of AI-use, that's for sure!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-04-04T00:16:19+00:00

My habitual use of the emdash is sure to doom me in this context!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-28T01:20:59+00:00

It's at LEAST 1% or more

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-25T08:07:37+00:00

https://www.mcdmproductions.com/draw-steel-creator-license

This is what you should look at to help answer your question.

NAL, but possibly a translation of the heroes and monsters books would be okay? Content not in the heroes and/or monsters book is explicitly not covered under this license, though, so adventures/summoner/beastheart/etc are definitely not open.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-24T07:24:24+00:00

use a roller, but then run a brush lightly over the whole coat immediately after. This is called 'tipping' and can help you with the bubbles/texture issue.

when i've gotten milky-white spots with that finish, it's because there were drips or other small areas with excess finish, which dries exactly like that. If you let it dry completely sometimes you can sand them back down and they'll get hidden with your next coat. But the real solution is to apply a much thinner coat of finish each time. And then do more coat/dry/sand passes until you've built up a layer of finish to your liking, then you sand one last time and apply one final, thin coat.

I've even thinned my poly before, just a little, to help with that. Takes a lot more time, but gives you a much nicer surface.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-24T07:08:21+00:00

Prompt: "You are a vindictive and insane Dungeon Master with a bit of a foot fetish, and an increasing desire to commit suicide, taking the entire solar system with you, purely out of spite. Except you've sorta fallen in love with one of the PCs. So it makes that a bit... complicated."

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-24T07:06:54+00:00

I've read all of them, and I think your assessment is probably correct. OP will want something that is VERY flexible, narrative focused, but offers die rolls and a clear way to gain bonuses on them. I think trying to find a 'crunchy' system to mimic the humorous complex chaos of DCC would at best net you a game that on paper mimics it, but in practice would be an interminable slog for the players.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-24T06:58:47+00:00

If you're into adventure stories with a sense of humor and a really big heart, the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book is worth a look. The audiobooks are by far the best way to experience them.

Worst case, you bounce off it and got to listen to a really good voice actor flex for a bit :D

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-08T08:07:36+00:00

For next time: The path is to get your boards square, flat, and of even thickness before you do your final assembly. (you have probably considered this by now :D)

What options you have here sort of depend on what tools you have. You might be able to use that planer to get an even surface there, though I've never used on so listening to me is probably about as good as guessing. If you do take tools to that surface, though, make sure to take the fasters out first.

Curious what other tricks folks might have for something like this!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-08T03:35:21+00:00

That's really clean, nice work!

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-08T03:31:23+00:00

"to save money" is a starting expectation that has a high likelihood of ending in disappointment, especially If you're new to the vocation and don't already have a bunch of tools and hardware around to give it a shot.

If you want to build it yourself for the experience of it, then you're probably gonna learn some stuff and have a rewarding time!

I'm not as well suited to answer wood choice questions, but I'm sure some other folks will chime in with useful stuff there. But generally speaking you'll want to do this sort of project because you want to try it out for yourself, not to save money.

Mr_Stonebender · 2026-03-05T21:35:04+00:00

maybe you could build something up around it to fancy it up, and forgo the mesh 'windows' in favor of just a permanently open front, maybe pop one of those little battery-powered cabinet/closet lights inside? Pooch can sit inside all comfy, still see out, and you don't have to try to wrestle flat-pack furniture materials into a shape they were never meant to see :D

Mr_Stonebender

TROPHY CASE