# My son is number 1 in my books



## Foot Patrol (May 10, 2014)

My son spent the last 2 weeks in Kauai Hawaii. While he was there I sent a text message to see if he could bring me back some wood from Hawaii. Today we walk into the house and brought me 3 gifts. The first is a fresh cut Mango log. 



 



 

 



The next wood is Koa and is dry. The last piece is Kamani and is also dry. Both pieces are about 4 to 5 inches thick. The pith was not cut out and there are cracks but I am hoping that they do not go all the way through. Any suggestions for how to process for knife blocks would be appreciated.

Reactions: Like 8 | Way Cool 3


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## Tclem (May 10, 2014)

Oy suggestion I have is tell him to go back an that I am his brother and he can mail it to me since you have some already.

Reactions: Funny 5


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## shadetree_1 (May 10, 2014)

You don't have an addiction to wood do you Tony?


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## Tclem (May 11, 2014)

shadetree_1 said:


> You don't have an addiction to wood do you Tony?


No not me joe. Got anymore diw logs to get rid of.


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## shadetree_1 (May 11, 2014)

Tclem said:


> No not me joe. Got anymore diw logs to get rid of.


 
Only about 10,000# of it boss, what do you need? I might be able to find a couple of pounds to send your way if you have something really sweet?


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## Foot Patrol (May 11, 2014)

I was hoping to get some feedback on how to cut up these pieces from those who routinely process wood into blocks. Any ideas would be helpful.

Scott


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## Kevin (May 11, 2014)

Foot Patrol said:


> I was hoping to get some feedback on how to cut up these pieces from those who routinely process wood into blocks. Any ideas would be helpful.
> 
> Scott



I send all my Hawaiian woods to KKKKKK (Kevin's Kreative Koa & Kamani Kutting Kompany) they process them real fast and don't charge for their services either- they just accept the wood as payment. Cut Mango and Monkeypod too. I'll PM the address.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Kevin (May 11, 2014)

Foot Patrol said:


> I was hoping to get some feedback on how to cut up these pieces from those who routinely process wood into blocks. Any ideas would be helpful.
> 
> Scott



On the serious side - it depends on what you want to do. The mango would make a pretty bowl or HF if you're into those - but IMO you could get a set of 2 or 3 smaller functional bowl set from the mango. 

Looking at the pics, the Kamanai looks like call thickness material if it's niclet figured, or a plate to go with the mango bowls if you want to keep it all together. The koa appears thin - pen blanks maybe but it does not look curly?


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## Foot Patrol (May 11, 2014)

Kevin here is a picture of the Koa. I cut a 5 inch slice off of it. It is 4 inch thick on one side. The other side is a wedge. The color is nice and does not look curly but it is still Koa. 



 

The Kamani has nice color but has a lot of cracks in it. I may have to have this cast in order to get useable scales. Otherwise I could use smaller pieces to glue to a different wood for a composite handle made up of 2 different types of wood. 

The mango is really wet. I cut the pith out but there was not much color.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Kevin (May 11, 2014)

No matter how you slice it you can't go wrong. I would say cut it for yourself to use it for yourself to give to family. But 99.9% of my woodworking goes to family as gifts so I am biased that way. 

In your case where the wood isn't figured, it doesn't matter because it started out with a family history. Make something with it and give it away to your family because it will mean as much to them as if it was worth $100 BF to us. That's my suggestion. My early works were made of plain Jane walnut and ERC and my family thinks they are works of art.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Terry Summerville (May 12, 2014)

That is totally cool! My daughter is moving home from Hawaii this Friday....wish she would bring me some wood from the island! Lol


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## DKMD (May 12, 2014)

You may be able to get the mango to spalt by sealing it in a bag and putting it somewhere warm and dark... I've had some success doing that with maple and some others. Sometimes it molds, sometimes it spalts... Might be worth a shot.


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## Foot Patrol (May 13, 2014)

DKMD said:


> You may be able to get the mango to spalt by sealing it in a bag and putting it somewhere warm and dark... I've had some success doing that with maple and some others. Sometimes it molds, sometimes it spalts... Might be worth a shot.



I like this idea and will try it thank David. How long do you keep it in the dark.


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## DKMD (May 13, 2014)

Foot Patrol said:


> I like this idea and will try it thank David. How long do you keep it in the dark.


I throw them in a black plastic bag for a few months in my dust collector closet(it's warmer in there) then check on them. I've mostly done this with silver maple, and it spalts fairly easily... I'm sure different woods require different times, but a few months seems like a reasonable time to check it.


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## ripjack13 (May 18, 2014)

How warm should it be? above 60? outside in the sun?


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## DKMD (May 18, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> How warm should it be? above 60? outside in the sun?


I haven't paid a lot of attention to the temperature in that closet, but I've read that 80 degrees and 80% humidity are pretty close to ideal.


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## ripjack13 (May 19, 2014)

Ah....I'll try it tonight when I get home. I have some black asbestos containment bags from work that are rugged and fairly large. 
Thanx for the info!


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