I recently made a purchase on ebay. a 17cm thick go table with legs.

Would anyone be able to tell me the type of wood used to create this table if I were
able to provide pictures of it?

I appreciate your help.

One can always hope. Congrats with your purchase.

Here you go, I hope I can get some positive answers!

Edit: Good lord those were huge pictures. Just a moment.

Resized the pictures

Also if you need detail views, different (natural) lighting, let me know. I can grab a few shots.

I'm only guessing, but I would say katsura.

The wood looks to me like it could be katsura which is a common wood for boards (especially in Japan). This wood has a mild to dark tan color and boards are usually an itame cut (actually I've never heard of a katsura masame board before).

For the bowls I couldn't say. If they have a distinct golden sheen then they're likely Kuwa (mulberry) if not then I'd guess either keyaki (zelkova) or an aged sakura (cherry).

Here's a few links with some pictures of katsura boards for comparison.
http://www.kikuimports.com/goban-board-r5s879/
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~goban/g1go5 ... 4sun5.html
http://jzool.com/en/p/18214-Size-60-Kat ... -Board/353

Two more in case it helps.

It was listed as an "Antique" and "Told me it was solid kaya" which I was highly skeptical of given the price asked.
I hope it is katsura.

By the way, does anyone know of any Houston TX players?

I would say it almost certainly isn't kaya (I'm comparing it to my shin-kaya table board, hon-kaya and katsura floor boards, and it most resembles the katsura). It looks in really good condition, though. Do you mind if I ask how much you bought it for?

It was used, and assuming it was katsura (as the pictures looked kaya, but I couldn't be sure) I bid 1200 for it.
Which is cheaper than a brand new board. It has dents and wear on it, but as far as I'm concerned that's a bit of
history

Go is my obsession, and I always knew I'd own a board like this.

I plan on getting my stones from kiseido, unless anyone would recommend another place to get yuki grade shell and slate stones.

_________________
http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.

They're apparently sold out of the 9.2mm

The only way I can see this board being Kaya is if it is REALLY old and aged VERY well/ Kaya tends to darken after about a century or so .

Another major tell of Kaya would be the smell. Real Kaya has a VERY distinct (though mild) sweet odor to it (one I have noticed that stays in the nose for hours after you've left the boards vicinity).

For your board: I'm placing my money on Katsura...and might I add a beautiful Katsura board at that.

If you want stones contact Mr. Bozulich at Kisedo or Mr. Kuroki (his link was already posted). Both are very knowledgeable and can help you a lot.

Just a side note, I like sized 36 stones for the feel and sized 32 for the aesthetic look.

You can compare with my really old aged kaya board

_________________
http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.

@Vanity
If you facebook, there is a Houston Go Club FB page.

I've only looked into it due to the fact I will be moving to Houston in a few months. So I can't really field any questions about the club. I could try to get the organizers email if you don't FB, but pm on that regard

Yeah, I don't think it can be kaya as kaya has that very distinctive yellow quality to it.

Thank you for the complement on my board. I really love it, and I played my first game on
it this past weekend, and thank you all for your advice and opinions

Regarding KUROKI GOISHITEN, there are several pages at their website to look for the desired 9.2mm (size 33) stones:
1) "Clamshell Go Stones" (which you already discovered is sold out),
2) "Best Buy of the Month" which doesn't list size 33, but does have standard grade size 35 (9.8mm) stones for 26,000JPY, and
3) "Outlet" which does have standard grade size 33 stones for 14,000JPY, or slightly smaller size 31 (8.8mm) but higher quality snow grade for 20,000JPY

From what I can decipher from the descriptions, these prices do not include shipping--there may be a link which will tell you the cost to ship from Japan to your door.

I personally have not purchased stones from them, but many others have posted here that they were satisfied with the service and quality of KG slate and shell stones. HTH,

I don't know for certain what kind of wood was used to make this board. I am sure it isn't genuine kaya. I have some doubts about katsura, the color of the board has too much red in it. All of the katsura boards I have seen have a tan color which darkens with age but has no red coloration at all. I guess it might be a refinished katsura board. Most agathis boards have a red-brown color on the sides and the feet but they also usually have a light colored wash (paint) on the top and the grain is tighter.

Kuroki's shell stones are excellent and Mr. Kuroki is very helpful.
You can also ask about their Size 38 (10.7 mm) shell stones, standard grade.

In regards to the houston players bit. I happen to be a houston player myself As for others, i'm not entirely sure who exactly. i know there's some out there, and on KGS, we have the Texas Go Players room, but as for other meetings around town, i'm not aware of any current ones. What side of the city do you reside in?