Hi,

I've made a couple of greenland paddles from Obeche wood, which has "interlocked grain". Not a pleasure to use cutting edge tools on, but sands well and can be very easily shaped using a coarse sheet on a power sander. Light and seemingly reasonably stiff and strong.

Now I'm wondering if there are many other species commonly used with the same type of grain. There aren't here in Finland, anyways not among the native species.

Would this type of grain offer significant advantages over the normal grain, and what other species would offer these? Or is this a rarity only found among tropical species, and not something one will frequently encounter in North America?

risto

ps. the gain on the Obeche I used was quite coarse, in the 8-10 mm range.