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I also have a built table covered in sand and completely painted up my group has used for years. It has held up decently but is now showing its age. I just finished refurbishing.
I have a can of Minwax Helmsman Indoor/Outdoor Clear Satin polyurethane etc etc brush on stuff. I know Satin is a little shiny, but hope to use this as a clearcoat for protection. Does anyone have experience using a brush on clear coat of this nature? Is this a good idea?
How long to dry?
Does it turn the table to glass? (in appearance)
I feel I could go over it with a matte spray and dull it.
Any advice much appreciated. I have used spray sealers on my terrain many times, and it eats cans so this is an alternative I'm hoping to use.

I would seal everything with watered down elmers glue first. Pva glue. It dries clear and basically covers your table in a coating a plastic.

THEN spray a clear coat in your shine level of choice.

Yeah, I would do a couple of things; namely seal it when the sand is applied - before painting (though you can combine all of these into one big mixture sometime). Using a mix of watered down PVA glue/sand/paint can work. If you apply a heavy stain over it, that can help plant the sand, but would definitely ruin the look.

I'd simply make sure your sand is attached (however you see fit), and be prepared to do paint touch-ups every now and then. A small investment in some sprays or the occasional dry brush shouldn't be a huge deal.

PS: This is also a bit of a struggle with anything painted as a gaming surface, you're not alone.

Protecting a dessert table? I'd suggest a table cloth and coasters, possibly a cake stand?

Now if you were to have a desert gaming table, just use an outdoor lacquer for tough protection. If it's used regularly, you'll need to accept that you may need to retouch the surfaces susceptible to wear every now and then.

Brush-on polyurethane should work just fine. You may want to thin it down, slightly, to avoid visible brush strokes and help it make it's way down into any rough texture you may have. I've never used the product in question, nor do I know its age, so I couldn't even guess its viscosity. Generally, you'll want something a bit thinner than you might use for woodwork - you won't be sanding between coats, after all - but not watery.

Satin means a lot of different things to different manufacturers, as well, but if you rely on what you have to do the heavy lifting, in terms of protection, and it ends up to shiny for your taste, it's simple enough to just dust the surface with a matte rattlecan spray and apply quick touch-ups over time, should the matte wear away.

I see no issue with your plan, as I've done similar, before.

sponge for the sponge god, icing for the throne of kipling!

Thanks for the advice! All good. I do the watered PVA over all terrain features (like sand) so that is down. It's mostly the expanses of board painted as hard ground/rock strata etc. Going to give this a try, share the result.

@QAR: You caught me! I noticed the typo about the second post. You were the first to comment but I deserved it. Hey, we all screw up ...Although, playing on a dessert table might give more cover saves in the the current GW rules.

Damn autocorrect!

If you actually want to play on a dessert table theres a system called Fairy Meat. You use 28mm fairy miniatures with real life surroundings as your battlefield.

It's actually quite fun.

Wait... Fairy Meat from Knights of the Dinner Table? Great comic at that point...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So i did it, and the clear satin coverage came out great. it did darken the board slightly, which is just fine, it still fits a rocky desert area. It can be shiny depending on the angle of the light (look at picture 3 where the light is opposite the camera), so a matte spray may be used if I feel like it. Some pics just for show.

Edit: Forgot to mention. the table is 4x6, and at the end you can see a fold down leaf for another 2' of length when my group does team games.
This first pic is a "before" taken before it was covered so you can see the contrast:


Pictures of "after".

 Lance845 wrote:
I would seal everything with watered down elmers glue first. Pva glue. It dries clear and basically covers your table in a coating a plastic.

THEN spray a clear coat in your shine level of choice.

1000% ++++1 to this - all my boards and tables are done this way.

Rustoleum makes a cleat matte varnish. couple bucks for a spray can. I use it over my terrain all the time.