wooden paddle

a friend of mine is making a wooden brewing paddle for a friend of his. it is more as a sentimental item than practical as far as i can tell. he is going to carve it with some kind of runes or symbol of a brewing god(yet to be determined).
i'm not sure if it is for the mash or fermenting wort.
i've already told him my concerns that if it is for mash, it will be exposed to 170 degree mash and might get soggy. if it's for the wort, there would be danger of contamination. (i know, ancient brewers used magic paddles to introduce the yeast to the wort, but we don't do that any more.)
does anyone have any recommendations on the kind of wood and what treatment, if any would be suitable?
personally, i think he should make it really pretty and have the guy hang it on the wall in his brewing room.

I've got one made from untreated white oak, used primarily in the mash. I hear some woods can leach flavor into the wort but white oak is supposed to be clean.

You can touch base with this guy too, he's on the boards. http://mashpaddle.com/

Yeah, I would make with White Oak, or Hard Maple. There are other woods that are also quite suitable, but then there are others like pine, some oaks, cedar, etc. that will leach flavors.

Many people use a wooden paddle to mash with and have no problems. I'd certainly prefer it to the plastic one I am using now.

I made mine out of untreated cherry. It's held up great and has not introduced anything unwanted to my mash, wort, or beer.