Sealing single-ply hinoki blade

I read khvn's post about his single-ply hinoki blade cracking.  I am sorry to hear this.  I have only had my Tanpan for a few weeks but I am now worried about it cracking.

In the past I had a Stiga Clipper blade that I sealed with polyurethane.  I sealed it because some wood fibers would come off sometimes when I removed the rubbers from the blade to reglue.  When I sealed it, it changed the feel of the blade.  The Clipper blade became faster after I sealed it.

I guess that I am afraid of changing the sweet feel of the hinoki by sealing it but I am also afraid of it cracking like khvn's did.  I thought that sealing wasn't necessary for either single-ply hinoki blades or multi-ply blades that have a hinoki top veneer.  I have used a Sardius that has a hinoki top veneer for several years and the fibers never came off.  In my opinion, the hinoki grain is soo tight and uniform that splintering should not be a problem. 

Are the others of you out there with single-ply hinoki blades going to or have already sealed them?  If you did, has it changed the feel?

superloop

A light varnish like Joola Blade varnish wouldn't change the characteristics, but may not be enough to prevent splintering.  I used it on my Hinoki blades and after 3 months of Speed glueing it actually did splinter around the edges once.   So from then on Ia am very care to slowly remove the rubbers  especially on the edges.

Here are other threads on Varnish, but it may not be too helpful since heavier varnishes may be to thick to NOT change the characteristics.  IMHO, most regular varnishes change the characteristic.  So you may have to do some individual wood testing on some soft Home depot woods to test how much of a Varnish effect you want.  Definitely o not use a Donic varnish.  It will be too heavy for your needs.

varnish threads - http://mytabletennis.net/forum/search.asp?KW=varnish&SM=1&SI=TC&FM=0&OB=1

 

Besides sealing lightly on the bladeface, I seal rather heavily on the sides of the blade several times, allowing the varnish to penetrate into the wood. This will reinforce the sides of the blade.
However now I am not so keen anymore on single ply thick hinoki blade.
Formerly I used thin multiply blade, then I changed to Hinoki single ply which is thick, now I change again to thin multiply blade. I think I like thin blade more, it is much nicer to hold. I feel I can move more swiftly with it. Maybe thin and light blade is more suitable for an old man like me.