Two UNBELIEVABLE Curly Koa Nets

by **Fishfreak911** » June 14th, 2012, 3:04 pm

I know Fly Addict will appreciate these Koa handles. If I recall, he worked extensively with koa. This wood is a dream to work with! You must see it to appreciate the amazing light refraction going on with this wood. People who use it swear it is the best species in the world for this feature; Hence, its out-of-this-world-price. After drooling over the ease of milling of this wood, I looked it up and found out that it's native only to the Hawaiian island chain and is scarce on all but the big isle. Furthermore, the best curl and color only comes from the trees growing between 3K & 6K feet! The Hawaiian Gov. has banned all trees from being cut unless they are deadfall. This tree was taken decades ago and my client had it stashed.

The nets are named "Alawaii" and "Aloha." Both were commissioned by a winter resident of Hawaii, and an Alaskan fly fishing guide in the Bristol Bay area during the summer. "Alawaii" is for him and "Aloha" is for his bride. The client supplied the highly curly Koa handles which he cut from a slab he had been saving for years. Curly Koa like this is becoming exceedingly rare, and very expensive. He was saving this for a very special occasion. Alawaii's hoop is Wenge, Mahogany and Teak. The net number and signature are inlaid Chrysocolla, a stone not unlike turquoise. You might notice I have started putting Brass, Copper, and Aluminum ferrules in the handle hole where the lanyard attaches to.

The Magnetic Net Release was custom made with a large rare earth magnet in curly Koa. That ensures a nice secure bond whilst running from grizzly bears! :lol:

If you want to view the video, it goes through many steps of the build process, otherwise, finished pics follow.

by **khuzhong** » June 14th, 2012, 3:24 pm

Gah! Those are sexy! You do an amazing job with your nets. I definately need to have one by my side soon.

by **fly addict** » June 14th, 2012, 3:27 pm

Greg,
Very nice nets indeed. I think about how much of that Koa including a lot of curly that I went through, and how cheap it was in the late 70s and early 80s. The scraps I ended up tossing would have kept you busy building nets out of Koa for years. Next time you’re in Austin’s, ask Kevin about it.
Mark

by **fflutterffly** » June 14th, 2012, 5:36 pm

knock me over. I live vicariously.

by **dray** » June 14th, 2012, 7:00 pm

Are you kidding me??? WOW that wood is incredible and I really like the shape of the hoops too. I think I've looked at those pictures like ten times and I'm still shaking my head :rockon:

Is that a softer hardwood and can you compare it to another species?

by **Fishfreak911** » June 14th, 2012, 8:11 pm

khuzhong wrote:Gah! Those are sexy! You do an amazing job with your nets. I definately need to have one by my side soon.

K, thanks 4 the comments! I'm 3 months out on commissions right now, so "soon" is a relative term!

fly addict wrote:Greg,
Very nice nets indeed. I think about how much of that Koa including a lot of curly that I went through, and how cheap it was in the late 70s and early 80s. The scraps I ended up tossing would have kept you busy building nets out of Koa for years. Next time you’re in Austin’s, ask Kevin about it.
Mark

Mark, I can only imagine. My studio is filled with Mahogany remnants I saved from the landfill, and I would never want to buy that amount today! I'd have to sell off a kidney! :lol:

I just bought a small piece of fiddleback Koa on Ebay. I won the auction at 37.00 + 8.50 S&H. The piece was a WHOPPING, get this, 7/8" thick x 2.5" wide x 7" long! I feel like I got a deal! I might make ME a net outta that piece!

dray wrote:Are you kidding me??? WOW that wood is incredible and I really like the shape of the hoops too. I think I've looked at those pictures like ten times and I'm still shaking my head Is that a softer hardwood and can you compare it to another species?

Dray, I knew you would like these! It is about the same as mahogany in hardness, possibly a bit harder. It was a dream to work, much like mahogany, but even better. If you watch the vid, I was joiinting up the board with my Stanley #5, and my Lie Nielson plane and the curly shavings were just flying off with a silky smoothness I have never seen! One of the pics shows me holding up a double-handful of koa shavings. THAT was fun!

fflutterffly wrote:knock me over. I live vicariously.

Thanks, that's a nice compliment!

by **fish-on-bro** » June 15th, 2012, 1:16 am

That curly koa is purdy I'll tell ya. That would make a killer reel seat. Thinking about taking wood bending next semester, might be fun.

Chuck....
Fish-on-bro, out....

by **duckdog** » June 15th, 2012, 7:15 am

I have never been drawn to wooden net's. Just wasn't . Until now ! Wow, functional and absolutely gorgeous ! You do really nice work. One of your net's has been added to the list of things that I need.

Mike

by **hpskiff** » June 15th, 2012, 11:49 am

I've got a coffee table that my grandparents brought back from Hawaii in the 50's. It is a 2-3" thick slice of koa trunk about 2' by 4'. Just doing the math....holy c*** I think that needs to be stored in the safe! :doh:

by **Fishfreak911** » June 16th, 2012, 12:03 am

hpskiff wrote:I've got a coffee table that my grandparents brought back from Hawaii in the 50's. It is a 2-3" thick slice of koa trunk about 2' by 4'. Just doing the math....holy c*** I think that needs to be stored in the safe!

Insure that sucker! LOL!

Or....I'l "give ya 50CASH for it RIGHT NOW!"
:lol: