The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Wood working advice, please

Tough call. They'll probably show through the finish, but how bad is the question. If you sand too much, like you said might leave noticeable dips, but how noticeable. You could always go ahead and stain it, polyurethane it and if it looks horrible, just sand it and re-do it. I would sand the planer marks off the top of the boards and be done with it.