Unfinished wood in church bell tower?

[Beechwood Chip]

I making some replacement church bell fixtures (stays) from ash.  They will be sheltered from sun and rain, but be exposed to Philly (US) heat, cold, and humidity.  I'd like these things to last for a century or two.

The head bell ringer has specified ash and the exact dimensions, but when I asked about finish he said they didn't need any finish.  I'm thinking that sealing the end grain might help with checking / wood movement.  These things will never get any maintenance once they are installed - they probably won't even be seen

Am I over thinking this?  What would be an appropriate treatment?

Thanks

 

[Tom King]

Dry and high, they will be fine.

[wtnhighlander]

I think Tom is right.

[Chestnut]

I think unfinished would be perfectly fine. It'd take a lot of exposure to high humidity to cause the part to rot if it doesn't see rain.

[Beechwood Chip]

Great!  Thanks for the advice

[Mark J]

Interesting project.  Do you have any pictures?

[Beechwood Chip]

Sorry, no.  The stays are designed to be disposable.  If a bell ringer makes a mistake the stay will break and be easily replaced, and that protects the more expensive parts of the mechanism.  These were ordered to replenish the supply, and haven't been installed.  I've never been to the bell tower.

The stays I made were just 2" x 1-3/4" x 32" pieces of ash with a couple bolt holes.  Nothing fancy or interesting.

More detail in case you're curious.  The bells are parked balanced upside down, so a small tug will cause them to flip over and ring.  If they were stored hanging down, then you'd have to start by pumping them back and forth to get them swinging, and that would take effort and make a lot of (unintentional) noise.

To park the bell you swing it all the way up and when it just passes vertical the stay comes to rest on the slider.  If you don't swing it hard enough, it comes back down and you try again.  If you swing it too hard, the stay slams into the slider and breaks.  Then, someone climbs up, unbolts the broken stay and replaces it with one of the replacements on hand.  The stays are designed to break before the slider or cage, but strong enough to not break otherwise.