koa advice

[justaccord]

Any advice on turning koa, either spindle or bowl orientation?

I just experimented with a couple of pens and found it extremely difficult to turn without major tearout or blowup.

TIA

Dave

 

[Robert Taylor]

i've only turned a half dozen pens from koa and have not had tear out problems. i do use quite a bit of ca though. and of course sharp tools are a must.

 

[Greg_Haugen]

I've recently turned an end grain box out of curly Koa. I didn't use any CA or hardening techniques. I did use a Hunter #5 and slightly faster speeds than normally for all of the "finishing" cuts. It finished beautifully. I also made some rather delicate details on the lid and it really turned out wonderful. I think the cutting action and sharpness of the Hunter tools were the difference.

 

[Keoni]

Koa

🙂I'm from Hawaii and fairly new to Woodturning. I've turned hawaiian woods like Koa, Milo, Kou, Mango, Lychee,Kamani and Norfolk Island Pine. I haven't had any problem with tear outs. I use sharp tools all the time and recently got the Thompson gouges which cuts and shear cut very well. Even with hard woods, they hold their edge for quite a while. If the shavings get hot , I slow down a bit and sometimes use a spray bottle and water to ease the cuts. I find this sorts of helps the tear outs.😉

 

[Wyatt Holm]

I have never turned Koa before, but you should be able to make it work. If it is a very hard wood, a negative rake scraper might help, and if it is softer or closer to average wood just use sharp tools and be sure to cut by running the bevel.
Wyatt