Yew makes a nice riser, especially if you have a big enough chunk. I'm saving this one, till the right set of lams show up.Laminating scrap Yew into a block is an excellent idea I was thinking about glueing together vertical strips of clean wood into a laminated slat. I'm guessing thats what the Bamboo flooring is. Its also typical construction in a few types of sports equipment and of course bowling alleys