[Harp-L] Re: Koa wood harp

[Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A former customer of mine sent a piece of Koa wood to me a few years  
ago  to see if I could make a comb for him.

I found the wood (at least his sample piece) to be too "stringy" or  
fiberous to make a comb.  It splinters easily.

I was afraid of someone getting splinters on the tongue if the grain  
started to separate.  It would have taken a serious amount
of sanding and lacquer to make a safe comb. I know it has been used  
to make everything from wind instruments to bowls but
if you need that much sealant to make it safe from splintering it  
might be wise to go with a different material.

mike

On Nov 8, 2007, at 1:57 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Message: 12
> Date: Thu,  8 Nov 2007 13:15:20 -0500 (EST)
> From: "Hurricane Ramón"<party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Koa wood Harp
> To: rlwilliger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID: <20071108181521.0E66B9205D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> Richard Williger axes :
>
> Aloha, from Kuai'i, in Hawaii.  I am here for a couple more days  
> and, like everyplace I go, I check out the local music stores.   
> More styles,variations, and brands of ukuleles than I ever knew  
> existed.  It occurred tome, though, that even though some of the  
> stores carry harps, I am not finding a Koa wood harp - is there  
> even one made?
>
> ===================================================================
>
> Hurricane sez :
>
> In the 7 years I lived on the Big Island Hawaii ( the biggest  
> reserves of Koa forests are there )from " 1981 to 1988 " I saw many  
> wonderful things made from that spectacular wood from ukuleles to  
> guitars and fine furniture but never a harmonica ever . The Koa  
> would probably make a super comb material too .
>
> The wood makes for super lap steel and acoustic guitars . I have  
> also seen electric guitars being made there now with Koa and they  
> are beautiful as are the acoustic guitars too .
>
> The ancient Hawaiians use huge Koa logs to make catamaran styled  
> twin hulled sailing vassals that traversed the pacific from Tahiti  
> to Hawaii , holding as many as 200 plus Hawaiians and their  
> supplies ( like pigs and stuff ) and also waged war with these Koa  
> log boats .
>
> King Kamehameha commandeered a British sailing boat canons and all  
> with Koa war canoes and then went on to conquere and unite all the  
> Hawaiians Islands under his monarchy .
>
>
> Sincerely :
>
> Hurricane Ramon
>
>
> Aka :
>
> Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx