Opinions Wanted - Ancient Kauri ?

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Weird Wood Pusher
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El Pescador keeps telling me to get some ancient Kauri wood for handle material.
Well, a couple weeks ago there was a couple here from New Zealand and they said the same thing.

What do you all think of this type of wood?
I have never seen it in person, just photos and they weren't very exciting.
Sure it's like 40 or 50,000 years old.
But...is that enough to make people want it for handle material?
and did I mention it is almost as expensive as Koa.

I look forward to your input.

BTW I have a couple pieces on the way so I can see it in person.
If it looks OK I will send it in to get stabilized.
 
I think if you can get highly figured pieces. Somthing like in this video it would be awesome and folks would buy it!

[video=youtube;qtxcy2W3mgA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtxcy2W3mgA[/video]
 
I have worked with it a bit and have mixed feelings. The 'regular' quality actually looks a little bit more interesting after stabilizing because some subtle color variations come out more. On the other hand, I had a lot of pieces with internal cracks and what looked like deep scratches after final sanding. It also burns easily. But that all may have been lack of experience on my side, probably need to work slower and keep the tools sharp. What worked much better was the quality they sold me as 'whitebait'. That develops a nice finish and has a sheen to it that I have seen in very good mahogany. I agree, it is not the most exciting wood in the world, but it does contrast nicely with others. I would love to see some that is highly figured.

my 2cts.

Stefan
 
It's beautiful understated wood. Being a kiwi I'm interested in handles in this. A traditional combo that Maori carving has is with paua (abalone). I reckon a kauri handle with paua accents would look awesome!
 
It certainly has great chatoyance. Aesthetically though, it doesn't do it for me, but hey I always say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
 
I can see some possible interest. I would love to see it in a finished handle, just to be sure. But I think I already have an idea that might work nicely with it.
 
It's beautiful understated wood. Being a kiwi I'm interested in handles in this. A traditional combo that Maori carving has is with paua (abalone). I reckon a kauri handle with paua accents would look awesome!
That has my interest.
 
It's beautiful understated wood. Being a kiwi I'm interested in handles in this. A traditional combo that Maori carving has is with paua (abalone). I reckon a kauri handle with paua accents would look awesome!

Do you have some examples? I was thinking about something like that, but wasn't sure if inlays get any interest here.

Stefan
 
Havent (yet) seen any handles like this. Plenty of carvings, bowls etc with google search. Some simple long grained kauri, almost ligum-like, like the masamoto handle, with the bling of a band and endcap of abalone..... You may have a test dummy!
 
This is the Kauri I bought.
It was sold to me as nicely figured. All I am seeing so far are the saw marks.
001_zpsbae1f827.jpg


Next I will sand it for a better look and see how to cut it.
 
So far I am seeing some subtle figure in this wood.
I am going to cut it into blocks and sell them cheap.

Apparently the really wild stuff comes from the roots.
I have a request in with the supplier for some of that if they have some really bold pieces.
 
I find it darkens quite a bit with stabilizing, maybe try out a few pieces?

Stefan
 
Here are the blocks I have sanded and added to our web store. They look more like gold ingots than blocks of wood.
 
Yep, you got the idea of what these ancient kiwi trees (kauri, matai, etc.) are all about: beautiful and unique hues of gold and soft browns! They'll not compare if you're looking for heavy figured patterns but the warmth of the glow is what differenciate them I think. Not sure how how well they work out on small things like a knife handle though. On furniture and floors they are simply amazing.
 
I love the look of Kauri, I have seen a few western rehandles by Dave. They have always looked really special, I wanted to get him to rehandle my misono Hankotsu in Kauri.
 
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