Questions: Kauri Wood

by Laurie Williams

Originally published in American Lutherie #95, 2008



Chris Powck asks:

Where can I purchase planks or billets of kauri wood? I want to use this wood for instruments other than flattop guitars.


Laurie Williams from New Zealand responds:

Kauri is the local name of Agathis australis which is endemic to New Zealand. Similar species throughout Australia, the Pacific islands, and Indonesia are sold as Queensland kauri, Island kauri, or Fijian kauri. I will restrict my comments to New Zealand kauri, which is the one you would have heard of in musical instrument circles in the last decade. Aside from the trees growing today, there are also ancient kauri logs that have been preserved in peat swamps in the north of New Zealand. These logs are from 3,000 to 45,000 years old.