I had to show-loan a friend a drill I have that has a power cord instead of a battery. You can drill and drill with that thing and not worry about the battery. In fact I have a few.
They definitely need a coat or two of something. My inclination is to use dark Shellac, as everything else in this place is covered in it. That siad though, as a workbench they will take a bit of a pounding. Possibly I should use similar in a varnish finish.
Normally shellac to seal, oil based varnish to finish, so with dark shellac, 'kill two birds with one stone' 😉.
GM
I know what you mean about tall ceilings...we have a 32 'high Boveda ceiling that is made of brick, brick walls and marble floors. Our livingroom, dining room, kitchen is 19' wide and 40' deep. I made and installed some 12' high bass traps for the front corners, so far. I do not forsee any way of making the room sound as good as a dedicated room with 8-10' high ceilings though.