Maui Lumber Yards?

[alex grams]

The wife and I are leaving on vacation to go to Maui and I was looking for any lumber yards that would be worth dropping by. We have gone to Kona a few times and I hit up Kona Hardwoods and Roy Lambrecht Woodworking for any unique pieces to get (so far, a few pieces of Koa and a coffee table sized slab of mango have bee procured and brought back to Houston.

Any advice or suggestions for yards to visit, or even any good local woodworker gallery's that would be worthwhile to look at would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

[Dan Hintz]

No issues bringing boards back? Never been off the continent, so I don't know what kind of checks are in place to prevent people from bringing potentially contaminated plants/animals back.

[alex grams]

The main issues you could run into are pieces of wood with bark on them, though I have yet to have that problem. I actually took a piece of 8/4 mango with bark that was about 1-2 square feet in my check bag at the airport and had no problem.

Kona Hardwoods was pretty experienced in shipping back to the states. They would easily quote shipping back to anywhere in the states for any piece they had. They would wrap and package them so that they raised as few red flags with customs as possible. The coffee table sized piece of mango I bought from Roy Lambrecht I actually took to Kona Hardwoods and had them ship it for me.

I even brought back a small trunk of a kona coffee tree (about 1' long, 4-5" diameter) bark and all with no problem.

[Joe Angrisani]

They seem to be much more concerned with stuff coming into Hawaii than with stuff coming into the 48. But I don't have any idea how they got a coffee table slab "in" (now I do...Alex was typing as I was typing). Just gotta pick the lucky lane at the airport, I guess. :)

[alex grams]

Here are two pics of the slab. Beautiful grain and unique color.

The slab is about 40-46" long and maybe about 24-30 at its widest. To give some size perspective, the jack plane is 15" long.

[Marty Paulus]

OK since when do you have to clear customs to fly from Hawaii to Houston? I know there are special requirements to travel to OH from MI :D but I thought HI to TX was considered domestic.

[alex grams]

Nope Marty, everyone leaving/going to Hawaii on my last 2 trips was checked. You couldn't even take fruit as snacks for carry on when leaving Hawaii. It may be domestic, but they are still controlling any foreign species from entering/leaving the islands.

[Matt Day]

How much did it cost to ship that slab? My wife and I are planning a trip to Hawaii now.

[alex grams]

I think it ran about 120$ to have it shipped. I have had a few other pieces of Koa, each about 12" x 40" shipped and they cost about $20-$30 each to get shipped.

The main reason for the slab being so much was that it was about 8" larger than a pallet size, so there was a significant price jump from about 70$ estimated shipping to $120.

Maui woodstore suggestions anyone?

If you are going to Kona, look up Kona Hardwoods and Lambrecht woodworking. Kona Hardwoods is a little steeper in price, but they cater towards individuals and shipping back to the states. Lambrecht has a lot more variety of lumber and a large inventory of slabs and mildly better pricing, but they don't ship, so you have to arrange that separately.

[Leigh Betsch]

Man you guys are killing me. It's 6 degrees heading for sub zero right now. But, at least I can keep the beer cold on the garage step.

[Van Huskey]

When I read Maui lumberyard I can't get the image of huge piles of Koa waiting to be milled like Southern yellow pine in the South! I do love Mau, exotic but still a Walmart in the center of the island to buy souvenirs for half price.

[Eric Pitts]

My Wife is from Maui, and it seems like we're over there every month or two. I'll ask her tomorrow if she knows about any. I doubt she will though.

[Greg Book]

I visited Hawaii in 1995, and I did actually bring back some Koa boards in my suitcase. It was a 5' board, about 4" wide and the lumber yard had to cut in half so it would fit in the suitcase. They even put a few pieces of masking tape on to hold them together. I remember this because the masking tape was still on the boards when I decided to use them last year.

Personally, I wasn't too impressed with the grain of Koa. It was neat to have such an exotic species, but I didn't have a use for it for nearly 15 years.

[alex grams]

Greg, I am the same way. The pieces of Koa from our first two trips are sitting in the garage. I have a good idea what to use one piece for, but still meddling on what to do with the other piece. I have done a few furniture pieces with koa veneers though, and have been very happy with the color and grain of the pieces.

[alex grams]

Bump? Leaving tomorrow!

[Bruce Page]

Bump? Leaving tomorrow!

Sure, rub it in. It's 26° right now.

I haven't been to Maui but I could point you to a couple of places on Kauai.

[Greg Book]

Very impressive pieces. What finish did you use on those?

[alex grams]

I wanted to keep the maple as crisp and non yellowed as possible, so just used a few base coats of clear Shellac then a few coats of Target EM6000 (EM6000 being the new name they market their reformulated/improved Target USL under)

[Chris Padilla]

I've been to Maui a few times and really couldn't find any decent hardwood stores but I didn't look that hard. Let me know if you do better.

Be sure to visit Mama's Fish House (http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/) for lunch or dinner: pricey but delicious!