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Finishing Cedar

Do not know the best finish but I would use a seal coat of shellac first. Had a box I did for the wife's flute and the finish bubbled since I did not seal first I have always thought that was the reason for finish failure on
 
Shellac is a safe finish for cedar. Polyurethane varnish could react with the resins in cedar and either preventing from property curing or even many years later it could cause the varnish to become gummy. I've experienced the long term gummy varnish issue with polyurethane varnish even though I had applied a single layer of 1 lb cut shellac as a sealer.
 
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