Koa

Koa, the best known of Hawaiian woods, grows year round and can reach heights of 100 feet. The specific gravity is around .55, making it similar to American Black walnut in density. It has been used for centuries by Hawaiians to make wa’a (dugout canoes). It is a great wood for many purposes including musical instruments, bowls and all kinds of projects where a medium weight wood can be used. Our figured Koa has the beautiful chatoyance in the curl seen in the photo above, and the distance between curls vary (the one above has very tight, close curl). As best we can tell, it is not classified as endangered. The biggest threat to Koa in Hawaii appears to be overgrazing of cattle. Click here for a larger detail of the Koa photo.