Turning Teak

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Mariner1

Mariner1

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Joined
Apr 11, 2011
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96
Location
Tennessee
O.K. I got the teak decking from the USS California. Is there anything special I need to know before turning it. I cut one pen blank out of the board, but when I was turning it I got careless and cracked the blank to the point it was unusable. So even though I admit the error was all mine, is there anything special I should do to turn this stuff. Should I turn it slow, fast, Ludicrous speed, the wood seems somewhat soft or at least not as dense as I thought old deck wood would be.

Karl
 
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Teak

I have some from the USS North Carolina. Sharp tools work for me. It may cause some itching skin though. Wear long sleeves and a dust mask. I have felt numbness on my lips from teak. I have had no major problems with turning it. Good luck. I turn mine fast.
 
Teak takes up a lot of silica and as a result tends to dull tools more quickly than most other woods. If turning becomes difficult, stop and resharpen. Its natural oils may also clog up sandpaper faster than usual.

I hope that helps,
Eric
 
I will probably use a carbide tipped tool when I turn the next blank. I got in a hurry the first time and let the tool contact the drive center and it skipped back into the blank and destroyed it. I will most assuradly wear a respirator and my turning coat. although I doubt it can do much more to my skin then 20 years of working on a ship hasn't already done.

Thanks

karl
 
I have not turned Teak in several years. In addition to the above, Teak is an oily wood and does not take finish well. I cleaned the wood with mineral spirits and then did the finishing.
Ron
 
The whole reason teak is used on ships is because of it's natural oils. It doesn't need to be finished, but more importantly it doesn't need to be refinished every year.

I haven't turned teak, but if I would I would probably just leave it unfinished, or maybe just an oil finish.
 
Just a word of caution about turning wood from a warship.
Check it with a metal detector.

Wood was ALSO used because it would catch shrapnel better than a steel deck alone. This warning comes from personal experience. I blew up a blank from the Yorktown. I checked the rest of the stash and found another with metal in it.

(try explaining to the ER doc how you got hurt with a piece of shrapnel from a WWII Japanese bomb in 2012:confused:)
 
RonSchmitt said:
Just a word of caution about turning wood from a warship.
Check it with a metal detector.

Wood was ALSO used because it would catch shrapnel better than a steel deck alone. This warning comes from personal experience. I blew up a blank from the Yorktown. I checked the rest of the stash and found another with metal in it.

(try explaining to the ER doc how you got hurt with a piece of shrapnel from a WWII Japanese bomb in 2012:confused:)
Click to expand...

Can't say I ever thought of this being a problem. Just wondering if I get killed by a piece of shrapnel, will they add my name to the memorial in washington or at least to those of the casualties of the ship. :smile:
 
WT31.jpg

Here is the two pieces of the decking that I got in my order, 12"s long
:clown:
 
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