I recently purchased (under ke nalu's forever policy) a new ho'oloa blade (>S200 incl shipping!) to replace a maliko blade that the airline managed to destroy (they must have dropped a crate on it).
Apparently the maliko is no longer available & the ho'oloa is the sensible replacement.
Dean, the Aussie agent, was very helpful & posted off the blade which arrived in short order & in good condition...

but the ferrule (male part) diameter of the new ho'oloa blade is noticeably bigger than the old maliko & will not fit into the shaft.
Has anyone else experienced this?
where to from here?

Hmmm interesting. I have a few KN blades (currently Molokai, Maliko & Konihi, have had others) that get swapped around between shafts from time to time and haven't run across that issue.

Suggest go straight back to Deano for advice.