Teak turners???????

[Guest]

I was given a piece of scrap wood a few months back that was supposed to be teak.
I wrote it on the stock so I would remember what was what.
I'm not very proficient at identifying woods but I got to wondering about this piece.
I thought teak is a dense heavy wood.
I remember Norm saying it dulled tools because of the silica content.
One thing I know about this wood is that it smells like burned rubber.
Would that be a charaistic smell of Teak?
I thought it would be much harder and heavier.
ANy ideas?
I checked the belt and the motor on the lathe and that's not it,it's the wood.
It's worse than antler.

 

[KKingery]

Eagle - I've turned quite a few Teak pens so far, and have not had anything even close to a smell like that. Teak does turn easy (at least what I got from Don did). It was also not real heavy. Hope this bit of info helps.

 

[DCBluesman]

Teak is a close grained hardwood with <b>high natural oil and rubber content</b>. It is one of the hardest, strongest and most durable of all timbers, highly resistant to any rotting and almost impervious to the effects of hot sun, rain, frost or snow.

 

[Guest]

Lou comes through again!
Lou you are starting to sound like an e-n-c-y-c-l-o-d-e-d-i-a.
(For you older folks who remember the Mickey Mouse Club...
Thanks Jimminy Cricket!)

 

[ilikewood]

Yes, Norm Abrams was right. It does contain a high level of silica which will dull your tools faster than other woods.

To all those that want information on woods...just type in the name of the wood on any internet search engine, and it doesn't take but just a minute or two before you know everything there is possible about that wood and every other species imaginable. In fact, you will get more info than you will ever need.

Oh yeah, I have turned and cut lots of teak and it does NOT smell bad. It may be possible you have something besides teak.

 

[woodpens]

Originally posted by Eaglesc
<br />I thought teak is a dense heavy wood.

I wouldn't call Teak heavy. The blanks feel no heavier to me than Maple. The other characteristics I would agree with.

 

[Fleabit]

If it is smelling like burnt rubber, it is probably something else. I have Teak from the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle when they redid her decks and it turns easily and doesnt smell at all.

 

[Rudy Vey]

If it smells similar to burned rubber it could be Desert Ironwood. One of my favourite woods.
Rudy
SE Mi

 

[melogic]

Eagle,
Here is a link to a post I made of a European pen I turned from Teak.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2371&SearchTerms=Teak

You may be able to tell if it looks remotely close to this. Hope it helps!

 

[jwoodwright]

Here's a Teak European I made... Turned easily, no bad smell...

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[Gregory Huey]

I have worked with lots of teak on my boat decks (cut,routered,sanded) as well as turned and have never had a bad smell. It will dull your tools fast.