Teak Wood??

[Jgrden]

I met a guy today that is going to bring a plank of teak wood in trade for a pen. How do I value the teak??? He described it as being 2-1/2 think and 4 inches wide. How long?? I am not sure. The smallest is three feet because it WAS a door. How does it turn? How would you finish it??

 

[monophoto]

I just made some tea lights from teak yesterday.

It turns reasonably easily. It's fairly oily so you probably want to wipe it down with acetone before applying a finish. Teak contains a high level of silica, so it dulls tools faster than other woods.

I've used friction finish on teak, but I can't say that I'm extremely pleased with the outcome. The tea lights that I made yesterday were simply wiped down with acetone, oiled and then waxed. I used tung oil on some lights, and teak oil on others. I think I prefer the teak oil finish - the grain is more pronounced, mainly because the oil doesn't darken the wood as much.

 

[Seer]

Teak is kind of a straight grain wood unless you get a burl. light in color and finished real well. Here is a pen I made from Teak off the deck of BB-64 Uss Wisconsin for a reference for you John.

 

[Gary Max]

I just finished a order for a boat company------have plenty of good sandpaper ready.

 

[Jgrden]

Sandpaper and sharp tools. okay.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

We did a couple of pens out of teak many years ago for our dog breeder. One of our doberman's name is Teak and it was appropriate at the time. It is a boring wood. It has great properties if you are around the water. For what we personally are into I just don't hold much value to it. If you can come up with a nautical theme it might serve you well.

 

[Sylvanite]

Cumaru is often sold as "teak", which it isn't. Real teak also comes in different grades. The best teak (honey-brown is color with close grain) can be difficult to come by, as it is all snapped up by the furniture manufacturers. It's also expensive (one can often buy the furniture for less than you could buy the wood to make it). Pale brown teak is dull-looking, but cheaper. I'm still working through a box of 1"x1"x8" teak blanks that I bought for around $0.50 each (which comes to $9.00/bdft). Most teak (not burl) I see nowadays sells for $12.00 to over $50.00 per board foot.

As has been said, regular teak doesn't show much in a pen. Teak needs a larger piece to display its beauty. Teak burl, on the other hand, is gorgeous.

Teak generally has a high silica content. Although it is relatively easy to work, it dulls tools quickly.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Smitty37]

OK

I met a guy today that is going to bring a plank of teak wood in trade for a pen. How do I value the teak??? He described it as being 2-1/2 think and 4 inches wide. How long?? I am not sure. The smallest is three feet because it WAS a door. How does it turn? How would you finish it??

Turns just fine and makes a decent looking pen. I did three of them for a guy from a piece of teak that had sentimental value to him and they all turned out great.