Kamuela Hardwoods in Waimea on the Island of Hawaii

[rmhinden]

I visited Kamuela Hardwoods in Waimea today. They sell reclaimed Hawaiian wood, including a lot Koa and many other types grown in Hawaii.

It was very impressive, would be nice to live there to get access to this wood, but it's pretty expensive to ship. The KOA is, of course, very expensive in good grades. If you happend to be on the Big Island, definitely worth a visit. Some pictures attached.

Notice the length of some of the slabs on the wall in the last picture.

Bob

 

[onocoffee]

What’s the average bf for koa there?

In the Mid-Atlantic, we have Hearne who buys logs from a farm on the Bug Island and mills them here. Average bf is $45-50. I’m usualy raiding the koa cutoffs bin at $5/lb.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I bet the reverse is also true though. Our ordinary hardwoods would have to be shipped there. That would make them seem very expensive, in comparison.
Though I suppose it happens in the rest of the country too, to some degree? There can't be much White Oak, Maple, or Walnut growing in the southwest. Not much Palm up here either. Certainly, shipping isn't as costly as when it literally requires a ship, but just "common-ness" affects the supply-demand factor.
Ordinary "weed trees" like Poplar, Willow, Osage Orange, Bow Elder, Hackberry, White Ash, etc would be exotic.
Cottonwood is common in the eastern US, while Red Alder is almost entirely northwest.