I used a number of pieces of cherry for accent strips and inlays and it worked fine. It made for a nice contrast with the white cedar I used.

For the laminated outer stem I used (2) 1/8" strips of ash underneath (2) 1/8" strips of walnut. I did this to get the walnut part about as wide as the half-strips of walnut I have on the shear, plus the ash blended in nicely with the white cedar. I've seen this lamination done with both epoxy and plain ol' wood glue -- I used the latter because it's easier, less messy, and strong enough since it was covered with extra fiberglass cloth and supported by an internal stem as well.

Dean

: What type of wood did you use for the outer stems? I have read that oak
: doesn't epoxy all that well (anyone have experience?). I have some cherry
: left over from some other projects. Anyone ever use that? Ash would
: probably be stronger and easier to bend, but I don't have any of that on
: hand right now.

: I saw in the Hamilton Marine catalog there was brass and stainless steel half
: round rub strips. Aside from the weight, a narrow piece of brass might not
: look too bad (expensive though).