First time using Koa... thanks to Tom!

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Wmcullen

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Joined
Dec 1, 2020
Messages
397
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
Right up front, I'll say I did not make the knife on the right which is quickly becoming a prized possession.
That's the fantastic work of Tom at Wolf Creek Knives.
I have not worked with too many types of exotic wood and Tom kindly hooked me up with some koa to try.

p14.01.jpg

I had time to play with it last weekend. This koa is beautiful and the photo doesn't really do it justice. I don't have the vocabulary to describe it accurately but the grain shimmers at certain angles.

I kept the pen shape fairly vanilla, wanting to control as many variables as possible while using new wood.

I made two small design decisions.
1. The center band is rosewood and the finished color works nicely with the koa.
p14.02.jpg


2. On the bottom section of the pen, I left a tiny "lip" under the center band. The koa is hard enough (I think) to support the small detail and not break. The lighter koa gives a "beveled highlight" look to the center band when you hold it at an angle. I wish I had done it above as well as below. Next time!

p14.03.jpg


- Cullen
 
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Joined
Dec 22, 2020
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Location
Morristown, NJ
Very nice pen and knife.
Since joining this community I have learned the word chatoyance. I think that's what you're looking for when you said "I don't have the vocabulary to describe it accurately but the grain shimmers at certain angles". One of my new favorite words so I thought I'd share.
 

Wmcullen

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2020
Messages
397
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
Chatoyance. Thanks for the assist! I'm going to use that word three times today. This means my wife is going to hear me drop it into casual conversation three times today. I wonder if that will get chat-annoying. ;)
Seriously, thanks!
 

Alan Morrison

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Messages
3,062
Location
N Ireland
It's wonderful what you learn on IAP, vocabulary just one of the things.
It's a pity that photographs just do justice to a particular timber's chatoyance.
 
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