I have used Paduak on several boats. It has a good straight grain, and is generally the same colour throughout. It is harder than cedar obviously and hence I used square edge rather than beading and coving. The wood when sanded shows as a brilliant orange colour but will oxidize quickly to a redish. I have an album on my web site that shows the building of a kayak for a customer in which accent striping on the deck was with Padauk. The album is intitled Bob's Kiska in the album index www.orcaboats.ca