This awesome Kaya goban is 14.5cm thick, and stands 29cm tall with legs. It was refurbished in our Colorado workshop.
It is a textbook species of Kaya, with these indicators:
- The Cut: it is a Plain-sawn board (Kiomote) to show off the heart of the tree.
- The Grain: the lines are wavy, unlike shin-kaya and most matsu. They are also quite thin and indicative of slow annual growth.
- The Weight: it is very dense, about 30 pounds without legs on.
- The Size: You can see that the rings radiate outward instead of forming perfect semi-circles.
- The Color: A warm yellow, the heartwood is a uniform color. There is a lot of heathering, as this board was very near the heart of the tree.
- The Smell: It has an unmistakable sweet scent, like vanilla and cloves. It's been an absolute pleasure to fill the workshop with this aroma.
The corners and edges are good, with one spot of damage that has been filled with beeswax. During its construction there must have been a knot on the surface, so that was removed in a clean 4x4 square and replaced with another kaya section. On the underside you can note the knotty heartwood that prevented this board from being cut Kiura style.
The underside of the board was painted to cover up the knots, which was the custom back in the 1980's. The sides and bottom were refurbished to remove that paint and remove the old finish. Then the board was oiled with Special Linseed Oil, cured, and treated with Monkey Wax. The border of the playing surface was also refurbished, but the grid itself is the original raised lacquer - this hand-lacquered technique is called tachimori (youtube).
The legs have their original finish, plus a coat each of linseed oil and Monkey Wax. The mortices (slots in the board) have been cleaned a bit with a chisel, and the tenons of the legs have been sanded and marked with suggested placements in the mortices. The legs should be inserted most of the way, gently tapped with a nylon or rubber hammer until they sit firmly. We would recommend not hammering them home completely, as that will be very snug and extremely hard to remove. If you would like the board and legs to sit absolutely flush, then care should be taken to adjust the tenons so that they do not split the board (shorten then slightly, remove some of the taper).
You can see much of the refurbishing work on my Instagram page: 1 2 3 4.
Purchased new, such an item would cost about $3000-$5000 today (plus shipping).
Visit my Care Instructions to learn more about caring for our Vintage items.
Shipping Details:
Most of the shipping cost is included in the purchase price, with the remainder being added at checkout based on domestic / international rates from Colorado. Please allow 3 business days for handling, you will receive a notification from Shopify with tracking details. Board: 20x20x10in 33.8lb / Legs: 13x9x7in 3.1lb
