Teak

[Skipper599]

... Has anyone bought any teak of recent times? ... I got a 'wake-up' shot today when picking up a few bf for a grid for the sprit and boomkin from a local Vancouver supplier ... $50/bf Cndn ... Wow! I now understand why they paint the ends of the boards with Gold paint ...

[earlylight]

Wow, that is unreal. I just purchased Burma teak yesterday from my supplier in Annapolis,MD. 4/4 and 5/4 was $22 US/bf and 6/4 and 8/4 was $24 US/bf.

[bcooke]

That sounds a little high but then again my local supplier has stopped buying teak because the prices are fluctuating too much.

Last year I paid $26 (USD) bf but I often see it as high as $30bf.

Overharvesting and general bad management have reduced the supply of teak and what is left commands top dollar. Teak is excellent in some applications but there are alternatives. It certainly isn't the only option out there.

[Zach]

See if you can get your hands on some afromosia. If you are finishing it, it looks exactly the same. Old Hatteras exterior cover boards are Afrimosia... doesn't hold up great unfinished... but it does hold up, and look like teak.
Hatteras interior veneers still are, trim is real teak. It can be a little weird, it splits funny.

Spanish cedar is another one with a load of silica in it, that will stand up outside as rub rails and such... it goes more white than grey though. A lot of sport fish boats built up in Wanchese, NC use it.

Really. Segregate your teak pile from its scraps, or the only way you'll know the difference... is when you cut it. It smells like plywood, tastes worse... but it dosen't have the silica in it, so its not hard on your tooling either.
Just like sapele (4.10 a board foot) and kayaya (a little more... but its stringy.) smell like burned popsickle sticks, but look like mahogany.

I'm paying 10.80 a board foot for quarter sawn Afromosia, and can get stuff up to 8/4 and 12-14 inches wide off the pile. It looks just like old growth teak.
Atlantic Veneer in Beaufort...

This was the top ad when I googled the name for proper spelling. http://www.woodvendors.com/index.php/af ... nAodomGvVQ
Uh... wow. Of course they have to be in Washington state...

[Zach]

Oh... as far as local pricing goes on teak... around 19 bucks for the skinny stuff.
But, its been picked through hard... nothing new since the fall.

[mitiempo]

Westwind hardwood in Sidney B.C. shows teak at $30 a board foot on their website but I'm not sure what they have in stock.

[Skipper599]

... At $30/bf., that is most likely 'shorts' eg: less than 6 foot long ... and usually about 4 foot long. ... PJ White has got some too, they are 1" x 8" x 49" at $25/bf ... nothing wrong with that, and pretty good for small projects ... it's the longer stuff that makes one question: "can I live with a scarf in the middle?" ... It all depends on whether the join will agravate the eye of the beholder I suppose ...

ps: I should have mentioned ... I used 'shorts' for my project so did not have to pay that big number.

[mitiempo]

Not true. Planks up to 9'6" in stock @ $30 a board foot. They are currently out of stock on shorts. From Westwind Hardwoods, a major supplier to boatbuilders on the island.

[Skipper599]

... WOW! Hey, better buy that stock ... that's a hell of a deal I would say given the prices I was quoted ... I would come buy it myself but the Ferry Fare for the vehicle would exceed the savings over PJ's prices ... that is, unless I was buying a truckload ... Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone else in the market to share expenses.

[Maine Sail]

Wow, I just paid $20.90 a board ft yesterday here in Portland at Rockler. Surprisingly they had the best piece of local Teak I could find. The newer stock was priced at $28.00 a board foot.. Also picked up a new Incra 1000SE miter gauge while I was there!! SMILE!!! http://www.incra.com/product_miter_1000se.htm

[mitiempo]

Looks great. You have what I wish I had - a good shop. There used to be a place in Victoria called Tools & Space - they taught woodworking and allowed students to use the shop for an hourly rate. I knew the owner and used his shop many times in the past. But he sold several years ago and retired and it's a bicycle shop now. My shop is my cockpit.

[Commander-147]

There was a typhoon that hit Burma (now called Myanmar) a year or so back and wiped out a lot of teak trees. Combine that with the way they hate Americans and you get the current prices. I don't see it getting any better any time soon with the lousy way they manage the forests.