Koa Cambridge

[jmiket91]

I went by Woodcraft today and bought a Koa blank. Tonight, I turned it. This was the first time I'd ever turned Koa, and honestly, I fell in love with the stuff. Unfortunately, when I arrived home and began to prepare the blank, I noticed that 2/3 of the blank had a GIANT crack down the middle, rendering most of it useless for this pen, (I tried and failed at salvaging it) but giving me just enough to make the top. Here are my results:



I'll post the finished pen as soon as it's complete, probably Monday or Tuesday. Stay tuned!

 

[Ligget]

I love Koa too, shame about the blank, I would turn a black ebony or something similar for the lower barrel!

 

[Jim Smith]

It's ma shame about the blank being cracked. If you don't mind mis-matched grain, I think I can dig up a Koa blank and send it your way. Where in Georgia are you located?

Jim Smith
Conyers, GA

 

[turbowagon]

I love Koa too, shame about the blank, I would turn a black ebony or something similar for the lower barrel!

I like the idea of a contrasting wood for the lower barrel too. Then you don't have to worry about trying to get a matching piece of koa.

 

[jmiket91]

I just don't know what I think about a different wood for the lower barrel. For Christmas, I turned a spalted maple/blackwood El Grande, and honestly, it was a big let down. It didn't look at all like I thought it would. Maybe the Koa/Ebony combo would look good, though, and maybe I could segment some Koa and Ebony to take attention away from the mismatched grain.

It's ma shame about the blank being cracked. If you don't mind mis-matched grain, I think I can dig up a Koa blank and send it your way. Where in Georgia are you located?

Jim Smith
Conyers, GA

I'm in Monroe - about 30 minutes away from Conyers. If you have a blank, let me know. I'll drive up there and buy it from you. It saves you a trip to the post office, and me an hour and a half (one way...) trip to Woodcraft.

Thanks for the comments. It's a shame that the bottom barrel was unsalvageable...:frown:

 

[Munsterlander]

Ouch - I'm not sure I'd ever drive an hour and a half to get to a Woodcraft. Check out the sellers here on penturners.org - you'll get better stuff! Nice job on the cap.

 

[jmiket91]

Ouch - I'm not sure I'd ever drive an hour and a half to get to a Woodcraft. Check out the sellers here on penturners.org - you'll get better stuff! Nice job on the cap.

Yeah...I'm going to start doing that. I've gotten too many biffed things from wood stores.

Thanks!

 

[www]

Koa is my favorite. If you look on ebay this guy eganlaw sells some amazing Koa and curly Koa

 

[wdcav1952]

Shame about the hosed up blank! I agree with Josh, Joel (eganlaw) has some amazing koa on ebay.