Joe, CJ, or Pete Koa finish(color) question

[oneslowbird]

Since the wood used on these knives is so light and airy feeling (almost like a very hard balsa), I'm assuming that it's not very scratch resistant. I'd like to know the exact color of the finish so that if mine gets a bad scratch I can touch it up. Also, is there a matte urethane on top? Thanks, Alex

 

[peteq]

The coloring of the Koa wood we use is best described as honey-brown. But it's very detailed and has a lot of colors blended in there.

If you get a scratch, how do you touch it up? Well, since this wood is the same color throughout a scratch shoudn't need touching-upping. It is a relatively hard wood, with some weight to it. I have a big block of it on my desk and it feels like a chunck of steel.

Any Koa knife owners with similar experience?

Since I can't keep a secret I'll let you guys in on who our source for Koa wood is. Taylor Guituars is located in a number of buildings that I can see from my window here in Engineering. They're the nicest bunch of guys you'll ever meet, and they've been very helpful in getting us wood to use, which they obtain to make guitar necks.

Here's where you can see how they use it: Taylor Guitars

pdq

 

[dogboye]

Koa wood is fantastic. Quite hard, in the little bit of experience that I have with it. And used for many, many things in Hawaii. I wouldn't worry too much about it being soft; if I did, I wouldn't have bugged Jerry Hossom for so long to get him to make me a fighter with a Koa handle. It is SWEET! Koa is a very worthy addition to the excellent materials and workmanship at Buck.