Got a beautiful shagbark hickory stave in the process.  Its cut to profile and I'm trying to get it down to floor tiller.  Man this stuff is stiff as steel.  Anyway, the back was sealed with spray urethane but hickory is so very light in color I would like it a little darker.  Sanding off the urethane is out due to the rippled nature of shagbark.  Will hickory darken with age or what have you done to get some color into it?  BTW, I don't want to back it with anything.

I'd sand it.  Hickory can take it.  It won't darken on its own.  You cold also do something creative with paint, glazing or die.  I always thought a faux crackle finish would be cool on a bow.

It sounds to me like you still have the bark on if that's why you don't think sanding is an option. If there's no bark then sand it like John said. If the bark is on then you'll want to take it off.

The bark is off, but the whitewood under the bark on shagbark has almost a water ripple effect.  I possible could sand it, but it might be a challenge.  Then again, the urethane might come off with minimal effort.  I also thought about using something to strip the urethane off.  I've always heard that hickory is hard to die or stain.

Oh yea, another question I meant to ask earlier was about nocks on a hickory selfbow.  Should I do them like an osage selfbow, just cut into the sides and leave the back untouched or do I have to add an overlay?

I have rasped a ripply hickory back flat and had no problem.  But the ripples are cool so I would be inclined to get creative.  Dyes work better than stains on hickory.

You don't have to add overlays.

How about using a coarse steel wool. The steel wool would get into the mountains and valleys of hickory.
I may do this myself. I made the mistake of applying tru oil directly over the bare wood. Came out great but not for hunting. To much glaze.

If sanding means violating rings then I wouldn't do it. You can add some painted designs, etc. Jawge

Many stains will work right over the poly so you can color the back without doing anything if you want.I put a coat of poly over bamboo before staining it because the stain will make a smoother job over poly than it will over raw boo. Ritz dye will also work over poly.jmo

You can cut the nocks just like on Osage,,in the side and not across the back,no need for overlays unless you just want them.Steel wood works pretty good on getting the sealer off.
Sometimes I just roll the sand paper in a small
roll and sand easy.

  Pappy

I'm in the same boat as you.  I sealed the back of all my shagbark staves with shellac, but I like the looks of the ripple, so I don't want to sand it smooth.  Nice to know I have some options now.

With shellac you can remove it with alcohol. Just wet a rag and wipe it off. May take a few tries to get it all.

Sand it. Three rivers has some alcohol based stain in various colors for arrows and is perfect for bows. Don't want to put anything on that would add moisture to hickory. Then, the best thing I've found is Tung Oil Finish from Lowe's or somewhere. Urethane I've heard is not good because it will eventually crack with bending.