An interesting suggestion Paul. I havent tried shellac. If it's compatible with oil, does that mean oil would stick to the surface, like varnish would? Evaporating the solvent and leaving the solid as a coating? Or would the oil still penetrate?

Actually, soaking is not a problem at all. I have a sort of a box, with plastic lining, that I simply pour about a half-quart of brew in, and close it up. Open in a few hours, turn the paddle over. Close it up, and then pull the paddle out later. The schedule would be to start it last thing at night, run out in the morning and flip it, and then pull it out after work. Total soak time 12 hours per face - total labor time, about 5 minutes. The soaked one I have was four hours per side, and it shows no signs of wearing thin after several weeks of light use. Usually, a paddle needs recoating after each use for the first several times out. With the soak, the oil is penetrated so completely that no recoating is necessary. One buff with 0000, and one wipe-down adds the surface oils to it, and it works quite well.

If shellac would do the same thing, I'll give it a shot. Problem is, most of the paddles I'm making now are out of my hands as soon as they are done, so I have a little less time to experiment. I need 36-hour days...

: Have you tried shellac? When I was looking for information on shellac for a
: different post last week I came on a mention of using a diluted shellac
: that would soak deeply into wood pores. The idea might be useful for you,
: as the solvent (basically 200 proof alcohol) penetrates quickly and
: evaporates rather quickly. you should be able to wipe it on in minutes
: rather than stick your paddles in a bucket for hours. The shellac is
: supposed to be compatible with oil and epoxy finishes, so after the
: penetration by the shellac you can continue with either.

: I can't find the exact mention of this now, but I think I saw it while
: reading through this site, or links attached to it: www.shellac.net

: hope this helps

: PGJ