Which wood do kava bowl makers use?

Kava bowl makers use dense tropical hardwoods that resist cracking and moisture. In Fiji, vesi wood became one of the best-known choices for traditional tanoa bowls, vesi trees grow slowly and produce dark timber with rich grain patterns. Samoan makers often use ifilele wood, prized for durability and weight and some modern workshops use teak or mahogany, mainly for export sales. Traditional craftsmen selected logs by hand and left them to dry for months before carving began, where a large bowl carved from green timber could split after one wet season. Old records from Pacific trader’s mention bowls weighing more than 20 kilograms before carving removed excess wood, as many bowls carried a natural oil finish rather than paint. Smoke from village fires darkened the surface over many years and gave old bowls their deep brown colour, as fine grain patterns raise collector interest today.