$200.00/bf

[John Sincerbeaux]

Qtr sawn, premium, curly koa (Luthier Grade) 6’ long boards.
Just got back from the Big Island and that is a quote I got from one of the largest Koa dealers on the Island.

[Dave Zellers]

I'll take 12 sq inches! Maybe I'll make a tiny puzzle box.

[Gene Takae]

Thanks actually not too bad! Sorry-meant that's not too bad-especially for quartersawn.

[Zac wingert]

022D924E-223C-4AD6-A5B9-CA4D94D4ADCA.jpgF50D4AE1-E287-47DC-9464-812A3A8AE255.jpg
This was given to me. It sat in a garage for 30+ years. I was asked if I wanted any of the tools, I took the wood. I was born here, I grew up here. I am a fisherman and I care about the land. I worked in conservation in an earlier profession. Koa is not an especially rare tree, but declining. I know that anyone who would pay this price for wood will treat it with great care. It concerns me that such a price suggest a great demand.

this is what it looked like first EE36E4E0-5BAA-437D-B52B-9316D406AD7D.jpg

[Zac wingert]

I should add those pieces were glued together 30 years ago and and the completed project was never born. I merely sanded and finished what was already there.

[Roger Marty]

Most beautiful wood I've ever seen.

[Gene Takae]

Most beautiful wood I've ever seen.

Koa is prized for it's beauty and cultural significance. In the past it was reserved for Hawaiian Royalty. As Zac said, while not extremely, rare much of it grows on government or conservation land and is protected from harvesting.

[Ryan J Carpenter]

Seems like a great buy! There are some people out there resawing this into guitar kits and selling for upwards of $500/ BF. Not to mention some of the guitars that tack on a couple grand to upgrade to the koa version.

[Dave Sabo]

It's beautiful for sure,

I would only consider the board in the 2nd photo "curly" though. Perhaps it's more pronounced in person.

[John Sincerbeaux]

Not sure what you guys would consider extremely rare?
Unless you live on the Big Island, i would say Curly Koa is EXTREMELY rare. When I first started buying Koa (from different suppliers in Hilo, Maui, and in Honolulu over ten years ago, I paid $65-80/bf. Again, unless you are local, good luck finding premium Curl. Today, a lot of big companies in the US and Japan are buying up Koa. My supplier in Honolulu has not had Koa for two years now. Certainly Wood hasn’t got any new Koa for about two years.

Here is a pic of what I would consider premium Curly Koa
6465AE7A-EFE8-4FB2-A137-D67280BC6330.jpg

[Zac wingert]

I do live on the big island. All that wood in the picture is of good but not premium grade, by my amateur estimation. The curly wood on the right of the picture is the table top in the other picture. I’m sure more machining and finishing could have brought out more visual aspects of the wood. But I didn’t feel right cutting into it too much. I wanted to preserve as much of his wood as I could. It was covered in mold when I got it, the photo is only after a light wipe down with mineral spirits just to see what it was. This is a photo of some more of that wood. It’s only the legs, don’t have a good photo of the rest 6B657CF1-9697-40F6-B0FA-6EFB0FF38D96.jpg I wish I saved the wood for when I had more experience..

Koa has great cultural significance, some would say that the wood needs to be blessed by an elder to be taken. I consider the wood given to me to have passed appropriate channels before it ended up with me. As I said, it was the collection of a woodworker who has sinced passed. It has been sitting for decades, according to the family, whom I respect and am close to. The small shaker table now holds his things very dear to his surviving family. I can buy as much koa as I’d like from $10-80 a bf here, but i never have.

[Wade Lippman]

I wish I saved the wood for when I had more experience.

I know what you mean. Years ago I bought a couple large cherry burls at an auction. I wish I had saved them for when I knew what I was doing. (or at least bought more and saved a few...)

I saw some furniture in Hawaii made of koa a couple years ago and it wasn't all that dramatic. Maybe it was made of dregs.

[Gene Takae]

I saw some furniture in Hawaii made of koa a couple years ago and it wasn't all that dramatic. Maybe it was made of dregs.

That's an excellent observation. Not all koa is highly figured-common grades look like mahogany and I've been told that only approximately 10% of koa is highly figured. I've heard stories of people on the Big Island burning common koa for firewood. It's not only the figure that makes koa beautiful but the coloring as well, with my favorite being the chocolate brown with black streaks.