: I bought a 1/4''x6''X100'' piece of zebra wood, thinking it might
: be good accent material. It's pretty darn brittle, and I'm
: wondering if anyone out there has used it, and their experience?

: thanks in advance,

: John

I used zebra wood for the coaming riser on my first kayak, a Great Auk. It is brittle, hard, tends to splinter, and smells like the back side of a barnyard. Used in small pieces it made a great riser - scroll down to the bottom of the photo page linked below if you'd like to see it.

Deck accents and inlays would seem to be a challenge to me - getting the stuff to bend, keeping it in place so that it doesn't distort the whole deck, and sanding it next to much softer cedar would take great care. Anything can be done though, I've seen it proved many times on the boats built and shown here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12804249@N08/?saved=1