Koa wood.

[brick1]

A neighbor two doors down brought us a jewlery box to see. she is a long time resident of Hawaii and is now living here.

the box is made of Koa wood and the wood is absolutly beautiful!!

have any of ya'll worked with this wood before??

just wondering how you like it and your opinion of its beauty??

being shipped form Hawaii, it is a bit pricy, but for very special projects, i think it would be worth the extra??

take care, bill

[cv3]

I had never heard of koa wood. Just looked it up, it is beautiful. It showed quite a variety if grains and colors. It would make some nice special projects.

[kalynzoo]

It is a beautiful wood. I really wanted to bring some home this summer when we went to Maui. However, after driving doing some research I found there was not a single lumberyard on the island, just HomeDepot, and they carry only construction lumber. I spoke with a few craftpeople who offered small pieces, but they purchase from the Big Island.
Koa turns beautifully and polishes with a rich shine.
I keep the following link just in case I want to order some: http://www.koawoodhawaii.com/1.1.html
However, I hobby with spontaneous projects, and I really like to see the grain in the wood I purchase.

[greitz]

Our local Rockler store often has a couple of small koa boards, though I haven't seen any of them more than 3-4" in width. Koa makes beautiful pens!

Gary

[jimsjinx]

Koa is really hard, and some folks are allergic to the dust while working it. This stuff makes hard maple look like cream cheese! I blew out a metal dado insert on my tablesaw using this stuff! WAY expensive, but man it is beautiful! You can polish it, too! With NO FINISH needed! Waxes up edge tools. jimsjinx

[jimsjinx]

There was a wonderful supplier in Solana Beach Calif. called " Cut and Dried Hardwood". They had alot of exotics in stock. I don't know if they have survived the economy, however. Last time I was in there, was around 2003. jimsjinx

[brick1]

thanks all,
it did feel really hard when i "ticked" it with my fingernail. the inserts felt very light but rigid....
i bet it would make beautiful pens!!

[jimsjinx]

I built a armoise outa spalted Maple, and used Koa for square pegs pinning the mortise and tenons. The armoise had a paste wax finish, and man those Koa pegs really made it "pop"! I also have seen alot of acoustic guitars of late, with bookmatched or slipmatched Koa backs. Now talk about BEAUTIFUL!!! Now ya got me wantin' some Koa!! jimsjinx

[derekdarling]

... is used often in lutherie, both for it's stunning figure, and, as someone pointed out, it is hard like maple. Very often you will see sides and backs made out of Koa. Weissenborn guitars (hollow, used for Hawaiian slack-key style) is also often made out of Koa.

Derek

[keakap]

I can't imagine buying a bad piece of koa.
Locally we get it mostly from Martin & McArthur whose main shop is right here in Honolulu (free tours that'll get any woodworkers drool goin.). I hear rumors about some lucky dude just happened by a park service crew doin clean up on a felled koa tree, but that dude aint me.
It can even be bought now in a ply sheet. ($? Don't even ask.)

Now those of you that have seen this wood, imagine a King size bed set. 4-poster "pineapple" cap design, in solid koa. Rocking chairs, chests, bureaus, cases, boxes, yes- pens, pic frames, etc., if you ever get to Hawaii make a stop at M&M galleries a Must. You won't be disappointed. (Frustrated, maybe,, like me...)
I don't know if they sell wood outside.