koa wood

[banjo]

recently an older man whose daughter lives in hawaii gave me a pretty piece of wood that i have cut into 1 1/2 x 5 x 1/4 -2 pieces to use for scales. he says the wood is koa. anyone know about this wood? it seems to be hard -- is it stable. what about finish. or is it "personal choice?" thanks

[Mike Hull]

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[Tom Militano]

I've used a good bit of koa and I like the way it seems to shimmer when you move it around and view it at different angles. I use Watco also.

[banjo]

tom, the "shimmer" is pretty cool isn't it. the man gave me a few scraps also. i took small pieces and after sanding i tried carnuba wax, sealer and polyurethane, polyurethane spray/w no sealer, tung oil, varnish, and haven't yet but will try epoxy, super glue.
so far the sealer and polyurethane have given a shiney finish that really accentuates the shimmer of the wood. the oil and wax methods seem to make the wood too dark for the shimmer to show up as well and doesn't appeal to me as much. but they do look ok. got any other ideas to try before i run out of scrap to practice on?

[Bob Warner]

When you look at the Koa that is being sold in the stores, it has an incredible look to it that I could not duplicate. I have a couple blocks of Koa that a friend gave me and was really upset that I could not repeat the look that they get in Hawaii. I called a store in Hawaii and asked the owner how they get that incredible look. He told me that "Most" of the souvineer pieces that are sold in the Hawaii stores are finished by hand rubbing with Orange Oil. It really makes Koa look great.

[Kelly Carlson]

I haven't tried koa for knife handles, but made a bass guitar of koa with my son last summer and had a difficult time finishing it to our expectations.
After several false starts with supposedly quicker methods, we applied a sealer and then at least two dozen thin coats of Tru-Oil, allowing several drying days between each coat, then very light hand rubbing with 0000 steel wool between each coat, finishing with a final gloss coat and wax - i.e., a traditional gunstock finishing method.

[Raymond Richard]

Koa can be stabalized. I had bought a piece from Larry with Gallery Hardwoods a few years back and was really pleased with it...

[banjo]

hey Bob-- is orange oil available in the paint/finish hardware section or is it a special order kind of thing? can't seem to find it here locally but i haven't spent a lot of time looking Everywhere yet. thanks

[Stan Wilson]

Iv'e worked with a lot of koa,there are different grades from boring to absolutly stunning.I've always gotten the best finish with tung oil,many coats wet sanding with tung oil when the previous coat was completely dry up 1500 grit then paste wax.lots of work but the finish is smooth as glass and looks a mile deep.