First time using purpleheart, and not much experience in finishing although I have Bob Flexner's and Teri Masaschi's books. I'm building an archery bow rack. The two vertical panels are cherry and the brackets are purpleheart because the long bow and recurve bows I have both have purpleheart in them and I thought picking up the purpleheart in the rack would be a nice feature. I intend to use varnish (most often recommended finish for purpleheart) to finish the rack but have seen at least one reference where the purpleheart bled into a wood substructure. Anyone have any comments about this? Some kind of sealant first...like shellac, then varnish, can I do that, should I do that, is it necessary? Thanks for any advice.
Don M