Steering equipment made from hard wood (4)
I believe the answer is:
helm
'steering equipment' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'hard wood' is the wordplay.
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'wood' becomes 'elm' (elm is a type of tree).
'h'+'elm'='HELM'
'made from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for helm that I've seen before include "Position of steerer" , "Tiller - part of armour" , "Tiller; old headgear" , "protection for nut once" , "Part of ship" .)