Koa Wood: 3 Reasons I Hate Hawaiian Koa Lumber 🌳
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- #koa #woodcarving #woodworking
2 Minute Tonewoods: Episode #1
Koa: 3 Reasons I Hate Hawaiian Koa Lumber 🌳
Koa wood is one of the most revered tropical exotic hardwoods. Unlike many woodworkers, woodturners, woodcarving makers and luthiers, I am not a fan of this tonewood.
In this video I share 3 reasons why I do not love Hawaiian Koa lumber.
However...I do like the look of the finished wood. It takes an oil finish like no other wood.
We supply Koa wood as a raw material. Accordingly, we see the good (beautiful figured koa wood with chatoyancy) and the bad (koa boards with rot, wane, punky voids, etc). Unfortunately, all of it is expensive.
The first reason I do not like this wood is that it has been branded better than any other hardwood. It has a Pacific Island mystic about it. The idea of Acacia Koa makes people think of ukuleles and palm trees. That is great except for the fact that this Hawaiian wood comes from a very limited number of producers. Their Koa stashes are distributed in a controlled way, reminiscent of how the Debeers company distributes diamonds. Similarly, even though it is an Acacia wood, try substituting another Acacia wood for Koa. It's like trying to convince your wife that cubic zirconia is a real diamond! Basically, it's a very supplier controlled market.
The second reason I do not like this wood is that it is extremely expensive per board foot. On it's surface, this seems like a good thing. However, when people buy expensive woods, they often assume the high price correlates with a clear grade. Low grade Koa may have splits, cracks, checks, rot, and knots. However, it is still very expensive and often difficult to avoid.
This leads me to my third point. Koa production and grading is not good. There is no NHLA grading of Koa wood. Producers receive it, process it and sell it. If there is a particularly figured log, effort is spent to evaluate the grade. However, that's not the case when the grade would negatively impact the board foot price. In other words, there is a high price floor but no ceiling.
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Check out this KHON2 News channel news clip for some footage of a Grand koa tree:
• Grand koa tree
For a look at how Fender Guitars uses flame figured Hawaiian Koa wood in their custom shop guitars, watch: Fender Rarities Flame Koa Top Stratocaster: • Rarities Flame Koa Top...
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Maybe the worst video I have ever watched. No wonder your suppliers are sick of you. Please take this off line.
The feedback I’ve gotten on this video falls into two camps, depending on geography:
Woodworkers outside of Hawaii: “yeah, that sounds about right. “
Woodworkers from Hawaii: “How dare you?”
🤷♂️
You said ir
May I introduce you to something called “ baby shark” 🎼….
Lol this guy
Great leave the Koa for us Hawaiians. Less people wanting koa is perfect for us. 🤙🏽
I hear you. However, Koa is like an exclusive nightclub. The harder it is to get into, the more people want in, IMO
2:04 I have my parents old Koa furniture with the Anthurium carving. This furniture is older than my oldest sibling. My parents bought it in 1946. Koa wood furniture last a long time. I wouldn’t trade it for any of the modern junk they sell in furniture stores today.
Congratulations. That’s awesome. Not many people have koa furniture these days. Totally agree… hold onto it forever.!
I have several koa instruments (weissenborns, ‘ukulele, guitar). I live in Hawai’i and the primary reason I have these is for their beauty, their historic significance. I play them and they indeed sound as beautiful as they look. However, there are many so-so koa instruments out there and the prices are really absurd. Koa is prized for many reasons here, primarily because it is specific to HI so there’s that sense of pride. It is used to make paddles and old-style furniture, rocking chairs are valued especially. All this falls into the real of “Hawai’iana”, objet d’art evocative of an era gone by. It’s a source of cultural pride and identity at some level. Just as some Harley-Davidson owners get bent when a bike goes toa foreign land, there are some who feel the same when koa leaves the islands.
The Harley Davidson analogy makes a lot of sense. Thanks
90% of koa is exported out of the hawaiian islands which leave little for the local Community. I wish the state would treat koa as a natural resource so we could benefit from that as a source of income instead of relying solely on tourism
This seems to be the general feeling. Obviously, it’s a valuable export but it holds a special place in the heart of many Hawaiians. I wonder if Hawaii ever considered subsidies to encourage local use?
You contradicted yourself. It becomes income by exporting it.
@@danparish1344 so you can't just walk in the forest and start cutting down koa trees, that would be a federal crime. The state issues permits allowing some much to be cut down a year, so many to be planted in its place and so much miles of fencing to be installed to protect these koa seedling from evasive species like sheep, goat and cattle. Guess who gets those permits. Not the locals. It's the big corporations, the musical industry being one entity who "Exports" koa by the shipping container loads to California for further processing and resale, lining the pockets of the already rich. I'm born and raised here in Hawai'i and I get my best Koa from California!! How absurd is that, and at an inflated price of $400 a b/f at that. Treating koa as a natural resource and allowing the people of hawaii to manage this natural resources would be the right thing to do for the Hawaiian people. We've already had our land, culture and language taken away. Atleast give us that.
The two pieces you shown in the video brought two things to mind. First, that koa most often grows with lots of crooked branches and bends, which might account partly for those angles ... especially if someone is trying to salvage every inch. Straight trunks are out there and not all too uncommon but winding branches are more the norm for growth. Second, it's not too often that healthy live koa are logged and so it is often old koa which have fallen down which get salvaged. Hence, they may often have some rot associated with them.
Living on the big island I am always blown away by how few people can identify live koa trees or dead pices and how much rots on the ground. Driving a car and owning a hand saw I onley ever pick up small pices of road slash and wind fall. The rotting logs do grow nice edeble moshrooms I pick.
My grandfather worked a lot with Koa wood when he lived in Hawaii, and he still has a $700,000 full Koa giant canoe in his garage
That’s really cool. I would love to see a Koa canoe. Koa is so rare and expensive it’s often used in very special projects. Thanks for checking out the video and commenting Thanks! Steve
That would shore nuff make some fine-ass fire wood for roastin' weenies!
Would you be willing to send me some pictures of it? Just want to see what your GP has.
I live in Hawaii. I’m a high end furniture maker, I have a lot if koa, I’ve built many projects from koa. Many chairs. I like koa , but not overly fond of it. I only use high curl koa, mainly instrument grade. That type of koa, if you can find it, runs about $170 per. Board ft. You. Can get it for less, just takes a lot of hunting. It’s almost impossible to do a large project from that type of koa. I finished an entertainment center fro koa about a year ago. Materials were about $12,000 minus labor. Poor yield , so I had about 40% waist factor. I’ve been a furniture maker for 54 years. I usually only work in exotic woods. Koa is a hard sell unless the client is hell bent on the species and has very deep pockets.
michael wow! 😳 I bet you’ve seen some very unique koa over the years. I tend to cringe when someone I don’t know specs out highly figured Koa for a project. 9 times out of 10, once we start talking pricing they are suddenly open to all kinds of other options 😆
Commercial Forest most of the koa is from the big island. I live on Oahu, Honolulu area. I have had clients that want koa, and only want koa. Price is irrelevant.even after I give them the quote they say “ I have been wanting koa furniture all my life. I have been waiting for someone of your skill level to make it. “ If they have the money they just want it after I show the other species that are beautiful . There is nothing like koa. I have some outrageous monkey pod , beautiful color and figure. NOPE IS THE ANSWER. I don’t Mind, but after doing this for 54 years it never doesn’t surprise me. The last big koa job I did, the client handed me a deposit of $20 ,000 cash. Unbelievable. I am very fortunate to have such great clients. Being I’m in Hawaii, getting anything here is costly. I completed a surge china cabinet with a contemporary flair and y client wanted curly/ flame cherry. Absolutely beautiful wood. Used it many times on projects. It cost me over $1,000 in freight cost sometimes the shipping is a deal breaker.
Anyway now I’m rambling. Oh I got my cherry from Hearn hardwoods in pa. I have been buying from the for years. Where are you located? Michael Pratt
michael Hearne is a great outfit 👍. We’re much smaller but located in Southern California. We do a lot of work with instrument companies and look for unusual cuts of exotics like this koa slab instagram.com/p/B6wgcr5A6-Y/?igshid=1rbb0qux018b7 We are actually packages of Koa INTO Hawaii right now which I find odd. If there’s anything we can help you with, we’d be more than glad to do so. I’ll send you a DM later today. Thanks! Steve
Overall Hawaii sucks. No native orchids, no cool snakes...halfass surf. Woody Harrelson and Okra. Pura Vida
My first taste of KOA wood was at an estate sale that was jam packed with vintage tools, vises, lathe, drill presses, anvils, blacksmith tools, axes and saws. In a crate under the house, in the crawl space there were 3 pieces of KOA wood, 8" x 36" x 2" thick. I had no idea what this wood was and would have left all 3 pieces if I had not read on the side of the crate. It basically said KOA wood and it was shipped from Hawaii with the gentleman's address on it. I scooped up all 3 pieces and got them next to nothing with the pile of other stuff I had collected. afterwards I googled it and found out how expensive these are and why. Plan to make a small axe handle with some of the wood.
Great find! You don’t see koa in those dimensions very often. Very cool!
@@CommercialForest thank you!
Koa won't stand up to use as an axe handle unless it's decorative only. Use some oak, maple, hickory.
Okay, if ya don't like it, you don't like your suppliers, the quality they produce, and all that... go out and grow some of your own. In the '70s I worked in a sawmill cutting koa - this was in Hilo - and we threw away anything shorter than 2 feet. I cockroached some to make surfboard fins, but knowing little about seasoning and drying, I soon found that the fins I made would warp overnight. I had to fiberglass them the same day I cut them. Well that worked for a while.
Steve. Over here you cannot cut down acacia or pretty much any hardwood tree. You can however get a permit to prune some limbs. During typhoon Yolanda many very large trees fell down. The dealers in Hawaii state that Koa Acacia can only grows in Hawaii, and that there is Narra being sold as Koa from here. Not true. I think they mean Acasia Melanoxylon (blackwood) or Samanea saman. Narra is very difficult to obtain, and expensive, and somebody like you would love some pieces of Narra Amboyna (burl). Bottom line is that Koa can grow here, and in many Pacific Islands.
Interesting! Thanks for the info. I kind of feel like koa is to Hawaii what champagne 🥂 is to France 🇫🇷➡️Can only be authentic champagne if it’s made in the Champagne region. Thanks for watching and commenting. See you next time 👋🏻
You can make good champagne in many places. It is just that you cannot call it champagne. 😁 With the plant kingdom, DNA rules
I have to agree with Koa and other hardwoods. So I tend to build rustic and mostly and use pine and repurposed material👍
Jordan woodworking so much great work is being made from repurposed woods. Good to see!
I have a 1981 Martin Guitar made from Koa, bought it from a pawn shop for $400 back in '86.
That’s awesome. Is it figured? Dare I say vintage? It just doesn’t sound right calling something from the 80s vintage but 🤷♂️
It’s worth a lot.
You just need a better supplier with more precise selection. The boards you showed were ok but not that great probably a very low grade based on figuring, age of tree, etc. I live on the Big Island and have many Koa trees growing on my property and will mill one or two every so often. I get good results. The more tight curls and Birdseye fetch the highest prices while the straight grain is quite affordable. The straight grain are usually way better for structural applications. The higher dollar more figured prices go for accents, instruments, and even jewelry. In my personal experience the yield of high dollar boardfeet off a average tree is very low. However with a good eye one might be able to see higher quality and make better choice when logging to save the mill the guesswork. Anyhow it is rare. It does have to be shipped for a month to reach California. Then it has to be shipped wherever in the continental US. So a lot of factors contribute to the price.
Might I add that Koa colors and figuring vary from district to district. Hawaii has every climate the world has to offer with the exception of glaciers. As you can imagine that produces variations that are for a lot of people just fascinating. From blondes to reds, chocolates, peaches and blacks. Some with streaking of all variations of color. Beautiful stuff.
You speak the truth 👍 just out of curiosity, are you allowed to cut your own trees at your own discretion? I know the Protections are pretty strict.
@@CommercialForest I mean there are many ways to do it legally. However there’s lots of ways to mess up and end up with criminal charges.
We have private land and are allowed to cut Koa as we need to without any paperwork to do. You can get it milled and do as you please with it.
On State, City and County, federal and national park land don’t allow any harvest. Sometimes by a special licensing process if they may need trees removed for public works. But it’s rare. The thing is there aren’t many landownersthat have enough land to have Koa stands. It’s rare.
Koa is not Endangered but is rare. Koa’ia on the other hand is endangered and has its own set of laws that govern harvest and use. Koa’ia is a variety of Koa that grown in desserts and is intensely hard, dense, heavy, and durable while sharing the same reflective characteristics as Koa. Koa’ia sinks in water. It was used for weapons, home construction and ceremonial use. I’d recommend checking it out if your a wood nerd. If you want I’ll send you picks I’m working on a Koa’ia log now.
Anyhow Cheers
As a musician I am super duper biased. My plea: please sell to instrument makers first so that the voice of the life of the wood will continue through a voice and connections between people. : )
All woods have their uses and value and at today’s prices I use every bit including the fine dust .
Likewise! I have a tough time throwing anything away.
I didn’t know wood could cause such strong opinions
Heidi Ondich when wood is your livelihood you’d be surprised what kind of thoughts spin around in one’s head.
Steve Ondich your passion for wood is truly inspiring!
Heidi Ondich well... “hero” is a strong word but thank you. I like to think of myself as a “wood advocate”
Steve Ondich who said “hero”?
Heidi Ondich It was either you or someone else. Regardless, let’s not argue and bicker about who called who a hero. Let’s focus on the Koa. Sincerely- Your Wood Hero
all the reasons you gave are the reasons I love koa
I really do like Koa. A click-baiting title rarely loses you views on YT😆
@@CommercialForest ok do you want to buy some? i got koa.
Koa is a different wood which is why it's Koa.
You speak the truth. My criticisms are tongue-in-cheek. I do like koa. It is just a different animal than the other woods.
"Almost like the soup Nazi in Seinfeld. You should just approach with your head bowed down, accept what you're given & then be thankful that you've got it." LOL.
woodworker to great sounds, we play guitar for GREAT sounds,
not how hard the wood is to work with.
It’s because we have a shortage here in the islands
Is the shortage with koa trees or processed koa wood? I’d love to hear a Hawaiian perspective
Commercial Forest. There are 2 types of koa and one of the species witch happens to be the most abundant, is extremely slow growing and doesn’t get very big. Also it is a sacred tree in our culture and cutting one down would be like killing a family member to many people. Large koa just doesn’t exist anymore, I have been a hunter and been in the mountains my entire life looking for native plants as a hobby, and I have seen 1 koa tree over 60 ft high. Also it’s illegal for any civilian without a permit to cut a koa tree and is punishable by law. And young small koa doesn’t have those swirls in it like large mature koa. If you can get some hawaiian kiawe wood, you might like it better.
Right on, brother!
I’m not a woodworker but I buy a lot of wood products like banjos, guitars, mandolins , autoharps, spinning wheels, drop spindles , etc. and I love when I can get these things in koa. I now find myself pissed off at koa wood after watching this, 😂🤬
You don't hate koa. You hate its price and attitude of suppliers. But not koa itself. So... Your title is clickbait. Isn't it? ;)
You speak the truth!
I’m a bit fond of Koa, myself
THANKS FOR BEING A "MAVERICK" MAN.
Only grow in one place lol
Great video.
2019 Mildred Montag thank you for watching
Steve Ondich I kind of feel like you’re being mean toward the Koa. You sound a little like a jilted suitor.lol
2019 Mildred Montag no Koa for you!!!
2019 Mildred Montag also, are you trying to link to some kind of a super virus at the end of your message or is that supposed to be “. LOL”?
Steve Ondich maybe you should click it and find out!
K
I thought it was illegal to harvest Koa
Zephan Mayeda You cannot arbitrarily cut down Koa trees like you can unprotected species. However, once Koa trees fall down naturally (after storms, for example) they are allowed to be milled into lumber. So in that sense they can be harvested but the timing is up to Mother Nature.
Commercial Forest thank you for that info
Then don’t use it. Go to Antarctica you
Sadly, I cannot break my koa habit. I’ve spent so much money over the years, always curious to see what that next batch holds.
I call it “Chasing the nene,” and it’s unlikely to end anytime soon.
Hey why do you hate me ????
Koa is garbage. Guanacaste rocks....but.... Use inserts to screw
I love Guanacaste. We had some insanely large slabs in stock a few years ago. Those trees grow huge!
@@CommercialForest It's one of those rare times I recommend The Mask when working. I't like a cross between skunk and Habanero pepper when the dust climbs in yer nose ;-)
I think your video is a little snobby. Have you ever looked into the history of Koa in Hawaii?
Its not "branding" that makes the prices so high and pieces hard to come by.
The reason its so hard to find is because it was over harvested by American & European business men that came to the Hawaiian islands and basically did what they wanted in harvesting and pillaging Koa from the land.
Look into the history of the Hawaiian islands and you'll see a recurring theme of disrespect & oppression of the Hawaiian people & their resources by wealthy foreign interests.
Its hard to find a lot of the large, mature trees available, that's why you get a lot of imperfect pieces and why its protected by the state of Hawaii and live, healthy trees can't be cut down. It has historical and ancestral significance to the people of Hawaii and its estimated that only 10% - 15% of the once flourishing Koa forests still survive today.
Just like a haole to "hate" something you don't have respect for or understand.
Wah wah wah.
Thanks for commenting, Christina. I hope you realize the title is a little tongue in cheek (clickbait). I actually do like Koa wood. If you feel any animosity coming through it's definitely directed toward the distribution channel, not Hawaiian culture.
Koa supply is sporadic & largely dependent on storm damaged trees. It's a unique situation where the specie is very important to local culture & history but at the same time, lots of $$$ changes hands among those involved in sending it off the Island.
There is definitely a brand to Koa. Compare it to American Chestnut - a specie which has almost been completely wiped out by disease over the past century. Its decimation has not driven pricing to Koa-levels. People love what Koa represents. Few feel the same about Chestnut.
In the wood community, Koa suppliers have a reputation for being arrogant to work with. Don't take my word for it, read some Yelp reviews. To me, it reflects a seller's market for a very limited product, not a political stance against foreign interlopers, but maybe its a combination of the two.
Either way, sorry if you took offense.
I was wit you all da way up until da racist tag! Jus like one haole!!
E o!
@@lektrikbass WHITES ARE NOT HOWLIES IF THEY KEEP THEIR ASSES ON THE MAINLAND BRO.
YOU WENT RACIST BECAUSE YOUR RESENTMENT AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST DICTATES A SANE AND RATIONAL RESPONSE.
I UNDERSTAND BECAUSE I AM CHICANO.
YOU LOST AN ISLAND AND THE RESOURCES TO BENEFIT YOUR PEOPLE.
WE LOST HALF OF AMERICA AND THEY ARE STILL STEALING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF OUR LANDS OIL.
FOR WHICH THEYVE NEVER GIVEN US A RED CENT.
SORRY BRO BUT ONE DAY IM GOING TO HAWAII AND GET MY LIL KOA OUT THE FORREST WITH YOUR HELP AND WE WILL LAUGH THAT WE WENT A DIFFERENT WAY.
YEAH I HAVE REAL PEOPLE I KNOW THERE.
BLESS
Have you ever heard of "supply and demand", if a item is very rare, koa is only found in Hawaii, it will be expensive. I've been working with koa for over thirty years and do not find it that hard to source. Maybe you should stick to poplar, after all you can get it at Home Depot.
Robert Laws For me, it’s a frustrating specie to deal with. I’m glad that your experience is different. Are you using Figured Koa? We get unfigured stock more consistently but it’s still hits/miss
@@CommercialForest I do use figured koa and my craft includes jewelry boxes, picture frames and other small objects. It sounds like you are into larger projects, I can understand your frustrations getting good large stock. By the way, I recently planted two koa trees on a plantation on the big island of Hawaii.
Robert Laws Nice! 👍 I often wonder why people don’t try to plant acacia Koa in other tropical locations. I’m guessing it doesn’t come out the same without the Hawaii soil. Or maybe it’s like champagne and you can’t market it as Koa if it’s not from the right region. Regardless, good to see more Koa plantations.
Robert Laws Nice! 👍 I often wonder why people don’t try to plant acacia Koa in other tropical locations. I’m guessing it doesn’t come out the same without the Hawaii soil. Or maybe it’s like champagne and you can’t market it as Koa if it’s not from the right region. Regardless, good to see more Koa plantations.
?
Thought this might be some useful tips about working with koa, not just whining that a rare material is expensive. White traders stripped the land of koa and sandalwood, then decimated many of the areas they grow. Much of the koa wood that is available is privately harvested from small private lots and the majority is cut up into planks by backyard "portable mills". These are mostly not cut or milled by professionals. So....yeah, you DO have to take what you can get.
And EVERY scrap of koa is precious. If you know your wood, no one is EVER "stuck" with odd bits of koa. That odd end bit he points out could be cut and carved into probably 10+ fish hooks that would sell for $50-150 each. The end with the branch indent is simply too valueable to trim off just for the sake of a pretty board.
Please stop posting this drivel. It's not only an entire video that is just whining, it is also wildly inaccurate.
You're shocked that "10 things I Hate About Koa" includes whining and not useful woodworking tips. Sorry to blindside you with such a misleading title.
Have you thought about doing research before you speak about these things?
Yes but then I think about how much work that probably entails. Significantly easier to sling darts 🎯 🤷♂️
Waste of time watching this video
not true - it helps my viewer engagement