Koa
- Thread starter masonh
- Start date
It depends on the particular piece. If it's as heavy & dense as maple, or even slightly less so, then it's likely just fine. If it's more like mahogany then you might reconsider. I use a lot of koa, and never have cored any of it except one piece for a forearm. Use good judgement & common sense. Koa ranges dramatically from soft to hard & light to heavy.
I always core Koa. I don't believe it to be a very stable wood. Sometimes it will have hidden holes that need to be filled. I also think uncored Koa is very flexible. The clear coat helps, but not enough in my humble opinion. I work with Koa quite a bit here so I've had experiance with it.
thanks Eric,i'll check it out when it comes in.i just got a 22" piece on Ebay for $19.99 with 2 sides of good curl 3A or 4A.the 5A stuff goes for 10 times the money,it is insane.i bid $100 on a slab with a buy it now of $150 last week and it ended up going up to $260.looked like curly crotch,should have bought it now,it was good for 5-6 cues.
Buying koa can be expensive. It's not uncommon for me to spend $500+ for a koa board. Try finding some Asian woods from the acacia family. The wood is more abundant, tremendously cheaper & indistinguishable from koa. I have several handles of each wood cut & cannot tell the difference, besides one costs $150bf & the other $5bf.
That's like quilted sapele on ebay goes for alot...now I have a source for it...premium pieces for less...masonh said:
I have found only one source for consistently top grade figure, but they are not cheap.
my favorite
Koa is my favorite wood. I have only been building cues for few years as a hobby, but have cut a lot of koa. I am on a waiting list with a couple of dealers in hawaii and when they get any exceptional pieces, i dont mind paying the price. Gilmer woods sells a tasmanian blackwood that i believe is from the acacia family that is very close to acacia koa. Most of all the koa i have every had was very light in weight and i always core the koa with a flat laminated maple core. I just love the way the high grade koa shimmers under the lights. My favorite cue is high grade koa forearm and butt cap with high grade curly maple handle. Plain but elegant. chuck
Koa is my favorite wood. I have only been building cues for few years as a hobby, but have cut a lot of koa. I am on a waiting list with a couple of dealers in hawaii and when they get any exceptional pieces, i dont mind paying the price. Gilmer woods sells a tasmanian blackwood that i believe is from the acacia family that is very close to acacia koa. Most of all the koa i have every had was very light in weight and i always core the koa with a flat laminated maple core. I just love the way the high grade koa shimmers under the lights. My favorite cue is high grade koa forearm and butt cap with high grade curly maple handle. Plain but elegant. chuck
I love Koa.
This one is all sold out.
OK you can have this one for $640.masonh said:
I'm pretty lucky. I have a friend here that builds Koa Ukeleles. I get his scraps for cheap. My avatar is some of it. He usually calls about every 6-8 months for me to rummage through his pile. He's about due to call.
I have been told that most koa now being harvested is from dead trees not living trees so --
3 pieces.
All sold to members here.
This is Koa harvested from live trees down the road from where I live. If you ever come to the islands, I would be more than happy to take you there so you can see what growing Koa looks like and what it looks like when cut. The wood in this photo is 3 years old and NOT spalted.
cuebuilder said:
Its nice to have a friend like that. I have a simular source for African Black wood. Strange thing is that it comes in 16" round at 1 3/8" diameter. They can't use it for tone reasons and pitch it . The guy that I get it from just ask that I make him a cue this spring. I don't mind, he is a great player and will be good advertisement.
Jim.