# Curly koa?



## APBcustoms (May 1, 2014)




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## Tclem (May 1, 2014)

Nope. It's junk. Send it to Kevin

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 3


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## APBcustoms (May 1, 2014)

I made a knife out of it today and was embarrassed that I couldn't tell my dad what it was made out of lol


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## APBcustoms (May 1, 2014)

@phinds


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## phinds (May 1, 2014)

I can't really tell from those pics but it could be. I can't think right off hand what else it might be. I have not seen that wavy grain in curly koa before but my experience with koa is pretty limited.

The end grain could be koa for sure but there does seem to be more wavy strands of pores than what I see in the few koa samples I have.

The sapwood seems a lot wider than what I expect in koa, but again, that could just be my ignorance.

If you have a small cutoff left, you could send it to me and I'll see what I can find out.


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## APBcustoms (May 1, 2014)

Yeah no problem can you pm me your adrress thanks a ton I have a messed up knife handle will that do


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## ButchC (May 1, 2014)

The end grain in the first pic sure looks like koa. And koa can have some pretty wide bands of sap wood also. Looks like koa to me.


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## bench1holio (May 2, 2014)

Could be aussie/ tassie blackwood??
Very similar to koa, almost couldnt tell the two apart...


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## DKMD (May 2, 2014)

Could be koa... Or, monkey pod?


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## APBcustoms (May 2, 2014)

Got an email from the gal I got it from it's koa!!


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## APBcustoms (May 2, 2014)

Here is a piece I can send


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## phinds (May 2, 2014)

That would be great ... lots of side grain to show that wavy grain that I'm most interested in now that we know it's koa. I've seen that in several woods but never in koa. Until recently I'd never seen it in Douglas fir either but I now have a couple of samples that really show it well. In fact, on those pieces (both from the same plank, I suspect) it's so strong that it shows up on the face grain as well as on the edge.


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## Mike1950 (May 2, 2014)

phinds said:


> That would be great ... lots of side grain to show that wavy grain that I'm most interested in now that we know it's koa. I've seen that in several woods but never in koa. Until recently I'd never seen it in Douglas fir either but I now have a couple of samples that really show it well. In fact, on those pieces (both from the same plank, I suspect) it's so strong that it shows up on the face grain as well as on the edge.



I see that in walnut and Blm quite often.


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## phinds (May 2, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> I see that in walnut and Blm quite often.



Damn ... I'm feeling like I've led a sheltered life here. I've never seen it in either one. I've seen plenty of curly figure in BLM and occasional curl in walnut but I've never seen the wavy grain in either one.

Next time you run across a piece like that how about getting me a pic or two?


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## Mike1950 (May 2, 2014)

phinds said:


> Damn ... I'm feeling like I've led a sheltered life here. I've never seen it in either one. I've seen plenty of curly figure in BLM and occasional curl in walnut but I've never seen the wavy grain in either one.
> 
> Next time you run across a piece like that how about getting me a pic or two?



I will do one better then that Paul, i will send a couple chunks. I think it is rarer in Doug fir but only because the giants are gone. I may have a chunk of redwood with the same.


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## phinds (May 2, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> I will do one better then that Paul, i will send a couple chunks. I think it is rarer in Doug fir but only because the giants are gone. I may have a chunk of redwood with the same.


 
Hey, that's great. Thanks.


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## JR Custom Calls (May 2, 2014)

How about hedge? Seems like all I've seen online has had straight grain. This stuff makes for some crazy looking crosscut game call blanks.


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## phinds (May 2, 2014)

JR Custom Calls said:


> How about hedge? Seems like all I've seen online has had straight grain. This stuff makes for some crazy looking crosscut game call blanks.


 
Actually, I think that's a crotch area or something. Technically I guess that IS wavy grain, but it's more what I would call swirl figure. I can't really tell from your pic but I'm assuming that's an end grain shot. The stuff I'm talking about does not show up at all in the end grain, only on the side grain of a flat cut piece and sometimes the face grain if the piece is rift cut or quartersawn.


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## JR Custom Calls (May 2, 2014)

Ahh, gotcha. Not a crotch area, right in the middle of a 20' long log that's about 24-28" across. Face grain looks about as normal as it can though.


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## elnino (May 30, 2014)

Def koa. Third pic gives it away.


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## phinds (May 31, 2014)

elnino said:


> Def koa. Third pic gives it away.


 
And what is it about the 3rd pic that "gives it away"? Until this piece, I had never (in my admittedly limited experience) seen wavy grain in curly koa, so I'm not following what you might mean.


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## elnino (Jun 1, 2014)

one can see the faint diagonal grain changes. When you see that you will have plenty of wavy deep curl. it is hard to cut clean on a bowl but after sanding it will look amazing.


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## phinds (Jun 1, 2014)

elnino said:


> one can see the faint diagonal grain changes. When you see that you will have plenty of wavy deep curl. it is hard to cut clean on a bowl but after sanding it will look amazing.


 
So, by "diagonal grain change" you ARE referring to the wavy grain, yes? That being the case I'm assuming that it is more common in curly koa than had been my experience. Do you find it always to be present in curly koa? I have some where I did not see it.


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## APBcustoms (Jun 1, 2014)

I think the wavy grain is due to it being curly not all curly wood does it but I have curly walnut with it too and even some swirl in curly bubinga


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## phinds (Jun 1, 2014)

APBcustoms said:


> I think the wavy grain is due to it being curly not all curly wood does it but I have curly walnut with it too and even some swirl in curly bubinga


 
No, in my experience curl is an effect not a cause, and it may or may not accompany wavy grain. Usually it does, but that's because wavy grain can cause curl, not that curl causes wavy grain. Very often curl occurs without any wavy grain and more rarely wavy grain can occur with no accompanying curl.

Reactions: Informative 2


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