This wood is very pleasing to look at. It has a grain that is so tight you'll need a magnifying glass to count them. It finishes well, cures to a natural combination of colours: yellow, purple and red. It is very dense and eats band saw blades, sand paper and finger nails for lunch. I use this as a very special, hard block. It is sealed with west system epoxy to prevent chipping. I install between the gunnels, fillers of the same wood. Epoxied together, it provides a solid rowing block station that transfers all of your rowing energy to the oars. There is no flexing of the block at the gunnels.
These brass hooks allow you to leave your oars in the boat. The shaft of the hook is inserted through a brass sleeve in the thwart and padlocked underneath for security.
