# Hawaiian Koa wood characteristics?



## jayman7 (Oct 20, 2008)

I wanted to make some pens out of Hawaiian koa wood, so I bought a few blanks off ebay. I've never worked with Koa before, but the blanks seemed unusually lightweight. I read online that it's a medium density wood similar to walnut, but I can tell very easily that they are not the same weight. Here's a picture of the blanks:










So do you guys think this is really Koa?


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## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

I did a google search and that looks to me like koa but I am no expert on the subject


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I just walked down to the shop and picked up a piece of Koa and a piece of Walnut of about the same size. I would say, based just on feel - I did not weight them, that the Koa is just a little bit lighter than the Walnut.

I've used some Koa to make small boxes, but I have never turned it. I found it very easy to work with.


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## jayman7 (Oct 20, 2008)

Thanks Rich. I didn't weigh them either but the koa blank just feels SUBSTANTIALLY lighter than my walnut blanks.


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