Osage stave shellac ?

[Stick Bender]

Hi Fellas. I'm chasing a ring down on a 9 month off the stump stave this morning & would like to leave the back natural if possible VS. Putting on shellac , at what point in a osage stave life off the stump is it safe not to seal the back ? I have had this one inside for the last month .

[SLIMBOB]

Never in my opinion.  I did a belly split off a stave that had been drying for years.  The top piece was perfect, no checks.  The belly split checked on me as I was chasing the ring on it. Many have been fine, but others have been ruined, so safest to seal them IMO.

[Stick Bender]

Thank you Mr Deplorable , sold shellac it is !

[George Tsoukalas]

Is your final finish going to be shellac?
I don't use it. But if I feel the need to seal the back during construction I use the same sealer I would use as a final sealer. I use spar urethane in a spray can. Jawge

[PatM]

Is your final finish going to be shellac?
I don't use it. But if I feel the need to seal the back during construction I use the same sealer I would use as a final sealer. I use spar urethane in a spray can. Jawge

  Shellac seems to be the one finish that sticks to anything and anything can go on top of it.

[Stick Bender]

No George I was planing on a oil finish  this stave is really clean & probably look good with a oil finish no big deal alchohal & scrub in the end .

[Stick Bender]

Pat that's interesting you said that I often wondered if you could do a shellac oil type finish pre mixing finding the right recipe .

[Dances with squirrels]

If the stave has any drying to do yet, I like to leave a wee bit of the porous spring growth on top of the summer wood, shellac over that, and then later I can scrape off the shellac and spring growth in a couple of minutes.

[Pat B]

I add shellac to any newly exposed back ring. I've had 10 year old staves check when a back ring was newly exposed.
 Shellac is easy to remove by lightly sanding or by wiping it down with alcohol.

[PatM]

Pat that's interesting you said that I often wondered if you could do a shellac oil type finish pre mixing finding the right recipe .

  Lee Valley has done that with their French Polish mixture.

[DC]

I've had 10 year old staves check when a back ring was newly exposed.

Makes you wonder if wood ever gets fully dry

[Stick Bender]

Im starting to wonder if its not the moister in the staves but the oils & resins comming up threw the wood a 10 yr old stave should be at ambient conditions moister wise, just wondering how any wood could hold on to water that long. Since osage is so oily.

[PatM]

I imagine it might have something to do with inherent stress within the wood manifesting itself when outer layers are removed from one side.

[SLIMBOB]

+1 Pat. Newly exposed wood is not unlike newly exposed skin. It's been protected from the elements, and once exposed to those elements it just reacts to them. Drying, cracking, shrinking as it hardens itself to the new environment.

[Pat B]

DC, wood changes M/C with the relative humidity, even with a finish on it. I keep all my bow wood in my basement shop so the M/C fluctuates with the r/h also. I build most on my bows in the winter and bring them in the house near the wood stove between building sessions to keep the M/C low.