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How to Care for your new knife or knife set-Part 3: Our Woods

6-piece luxury handmade steak knife set in an amazing unique curly koa wood presentation box by Salter Fine Cutlery

Jul 23, 2022

Filed under: about our wood,  About Us,  Collectible Boxes,  collectible cutlery,  collectible knife,  Collector Knife,  cutlery blog,  Hand-crafted display boxes,  hawaiian koa wood,  Hawaiian koa wood knife,  Hawaiian koa wood knives,  keepsake box,  koa wood knives,  Presentation boxes,  Salter Fine Cutlery,  Salter Fine Cutlery Blog,  Salter Fine Cutlery steak knives,  Salter Fine Cutley,  Salter Steak Knives,  Steak knife sets,  Unique Holiday Gifts

During this series, we have discussed various tips for caring for your handmade knife and other products. In Part 3, we will talk about our woods. 

6-piece steak knife set in amazing curly koa wood presentation bo

Our handles, boxes and stands are made from the highest grades of exotic woods available. A huge percentage of the products on our web site were made using Hawaiian curly koa wood. Our curly koa wood boxes are unique and exotic pieces of art.

Koa wood is one of the most rare woods in the world and is exceedingly beautiful. It ONLY grows in Hawaii. Most of the available koa wood comes from our island. It is also highly protected.

Presentation Box for a 16-piece steak knife set featuring 5A grade curly koa wood by Salter Fine Cutlery

We value the environment as much as you do and respect the land and the trees that grow only here. This is why we ONLY use reclaimed, and sustainably harvested wood sold by state licensed wood dealers. Normally, this means the koa tree was felled due to wind, disease, through state mandates for clearing due to roads, or other forestry reasons. 

Presentation box curly Hawaiian premium grade box to hold a 4 piece carving set handmade luxury gifts from Salter Fine Cutlery of Hawaii

Only a very small percentage of the tree contains the amazing curl you see in our knife handles and presentation boxes. It is classified as 'premium', 4A, 5A, instrument grade, exhibition grade, flame, and I am sure some other terms. You can rest assured, we use only the highest grades of wood in our handles and boxes.

All of our koa wood has been thoroughly kiln-dried, plus receives multiple coats of protective sealers. 

The many faces of curly Hawaiian koa wood demonstrated in this 12-piece steak knife set with presentation box handmade by Salter Fine Cutlery

Koa comes in many colors, depending upon exactly where it grew and the amount of minerals in the soil at that location and elevation. While we cannot guarantee what color will emerge in your handles or box, we can guarantee the wood was picked with great care and every care given to meet your custom requests. 

Koa wood is a gift of nature. Whether blonde, golds, browns, or deep rich reds, we hope you enjoy the uniqueness of this wood as much as we do. 

  Making a presentation box and watching the wood start to come to life as sealers are carefully applied Salter Fine Cutlery       Hand-sawing a piece of curly koa wood to make a lid for a presentation box Salter Fine Cutlery

To recap, in Part 1 of this series, we discussed advice and tips to keep your knives looking and performing good for a lifetime. In Part 2, we discussed caring for your knife stand, in-drawer storage system, rack, or keepsake box. If you have experienced any problems or questions, please let us know, we can help. Today, we discussed the wood used in your handles and storage systems. 

In the final segment, we will discuss caring for your presentation box.

Postscript: It is the sad truth that there are people destroying healthy trees; beware of buying koa wood that is too good to be true. I will leave this subject to a future post.

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