If you want to have a good starting point, download Stu's calculator!It helped me a lot.
http://www.heilakka.com/stumiller/. It is important to know how much center cut your bow is. Most recurves are 3/16 and most longbows are around zero, but ask your bowyer.
Don't forget to substract 1/16 for your strike plate, so 3/16 becomes 2/8.
Also take care that you know how many strands your string is, it's a lot of difference if your string is 6 or 16 strands.
Stu will elp you to get very close, but as soon as you are used to your new set-up, you have to bareshaft or papertune as the last step.
As for sealing the shafts: I only lacquer the last 10 inches, where the feathers come (like a wrap). I give it four layers to make it last longer. By doing this you will ad appr. 25 grains to the end of the shaft (important for Stu's calculator)
I treat the rest of the shaft with thung oil. After the first layer has dried I rub it with steelwol to make the shaft smooth and then give it a second layer.