Mahoney is right on about the contact dermatitis. I read in a book (Know Your Woods) that cocobola is in the same family as poison ivy if I remember correctly. With that said, I do get some contact dermatitis if I handle cocobola too much.
I've gotten a few walnut and maple boards at a recycled building supply center. I ended up with a couple of 6" x 36" x 3/4" for about $20. I made a walnut base for my sharpening stones, a couple of maple sling shots, and couple of small cutting boards.
You might check with some flooring companies, they may have some scrap from a job. I've seen a lot of different types of flooring, you could probably find some walnut or maple, Sometimes you can get of buy a small piece of the flooring so you can see how it looks in your house, it may be enough for your project.
I made a tear drop shaped key chain out of manzanita (dark red) with an inlaid cross out of maple. I gave it to my wife and she has had it on her key ring at least as long as we have been married (28 years). It has held up better than I expected. The polyurethane varnish is a little bit chipped and dinged up from the keys. The manzanita was a from a branch i cut when I was camping (northern California).
Ric
