To stabilize or not?

[robloveday]

I got this awesome piece of koa. I was just wondering if having it stabilized would cause it to lose some it's figure. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Nebulae]

whoa that is really pretty, sorry I cant help you on the stabilizing, but its just so beautiful I had to post

 

[Seals]

Koa is very dense.Ive never thought it needed stab.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I find that stabilizing koa makes the pattern even more distinct.

 

[KnifeMaker.ca]

Professional stabilizing meets the test of "do no harm", even if it doesn't uptake well. Koa takes the stabilant very well. It would be a shame to see that piece move on the knife.

My 2 cents

Rob!

 

[Shaughnessy]

Rob send it to a pro you dont wanna risk a piece that nice.....:thumbup:

Larry

 

[robloveday]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[Danbo]

Koa is very dense.Ive never thought it needed stab.

Interesting.

I've found unstabilized Koa to be a pretty light wood, and less dense than say, blackwood or ironwood and others. Definitely stabilize that piece of Koa! :thumbup:

 

[Seals]

Interesting.

I've found unstabilized Koa to be a pretty light wood, and less dense than say, blackwood or ironwood and others. Definitely stabilize that piece of Koa! :thumbup:

Gee Whiz,Im sorry i confused you.Koa is actually pretty hard with a specific gravity of 0.55.About the same as black walnut.Of course its not nearly as dense as African blackwood or Desert ironwood.I would agree that it would only help to stabilize it.That is beautiful stuff.It would be easy enough for the op to sand and buff a corner of it to see what he's likely to end up with.This link is Taylor Swift and her custom Koa guitar. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Taylor_Swift.jpg