HAWAIIAN CURLY KOA - why not???

dirtypool40

dirtypool40

I love this freakin' game
Silver Member
I'm looking around for nice woods, and have seen some nice, albeit expensive, pieces of KOA for sale, does anyone have experience with this wood in a cue?

I'm looking for strong, hard hitting cue.

Thanks in advance....
 
Koa is a beautiful, easy to work wood. There are several variations of this pretty stuff. Big Island Koa tends to be a little red while Oahu grown Koa is more of a golden with dark browns and reds running through it. Its all beautiful and finished real nice. Here comes the BUT. As previously stated, it must be cored. Without coring, you get a very light cue that hits like mush. Pretty, but doesn't play too well.
Depending on the hit you want and the weight desired will have some influence on the core wood you use. Ebony gives a really nice hit and weight for Koa. Purplw heart also gives a nice hit with less weight. Don't count out good old sugar maple. Solid hit and not too much weight.
Gotta core!
 
From an aesthetics point-of-view, it is really difficult to truly showcase Koa, particularly a curly Koa, in a cue form. It has a figured which tend to be broader than most woods, and that can get lost in the round form...there is just not enough surface area there. To truly appreciate the beauty of a Grade AAAA+ Koa, it really needs to be quartersawn and bookmatched.
 

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I have a Sugartree cue with a curly koa handle, and I like it. But I have no idea if it is cored or not.
 
Masonh just posted his recent batch of cues and there is a Curly Kao handled cue that really shows the curls. Great looking.
 
my favorite wood

i have made dozens of cues, see cue gallery, using koa because i think its a beautiful wood. its very light and i always core it with laminated maple dowels. i first find the koa then go looking for a piece of curly maple to match the curl in both the woods. simple but elegant. chuck starkey
 
I saw a little keep sake box for the top of a table that was made out of "Exibition" grade Koa at a store once, thats what they called the wood-it was insanely beatiful, first thing I tought of was cues :) , i wasnt playing that year either. It was with out a doubt the nicest box they had there, the regular Koa boxes were $500-$1000 which seemed real expensive, the "Exibitation" grade wood cost $5500 for a box:eek: . I didnt have a camera to take pics of it(I wouldnt ever spend $500 on a box not $5500) next time I went to Hawaii they sold it . It wasnt anything special that anycue maker couldnt make in a few hours, no inlays etc just amazing wood, and yes it was light, its not a dense wood,

sorry for the spelling,

best regards

eric
 
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