How to Identify Teak

[Mario G]

How can I tell if the wood on an old boat is teak? Sure all one has to do is look at the price tag when its new (lol). On my 75 C-22 I'm sure all the wood trim is teak and after alot of hand rubbing in teak oil it looks great , My parts boat is an 82 Starwind C-22 and It seems like the boats were made cheaper after Chrysler was forced to give up its profitable marine line. The teak on my C-22 clean up real nice and has a beautiful golden finish after the teak oil. I'm not getting the same look from some of the wood from the Starwind.

Any help is greatly appreciated .

[Hirilondë]

I wish I could describe a technique for identifying wood. But I just don't know one. I used to use pictures of know pieces of wood, real piece of known wood and the like to do comparisons. Now I can identify most found wood by years of experience. You could try the picture comparison, or take a picture and post it here for us to ponder. There weren't many woods production builders used. It is very likely mahogany if it isn't teak. Mahogany now goes for about 1/4 the price of teak, in the past it was probably a similar ratio.

[Tim]

Here are a couple tangible tests. Sand some of the wood and see if the dust looks and feels "moist" and sticky, almost; teak dust has this characteristic, as well as its own very distinct (and generally pleasing) aroma, while mahogany dust is light, dry, and spicier in aroma.

If you need a comparison, use a known sample of teak to see what the dust appearance and smell characteristics are, and compare it with the other. As Dave said, the wood is likely to be some species of mahogany if it's not teak; if it's something else entirely, it won't resemble either wood.

[Quetzalsailor]

Color, grain, and smell are distinctive. Teak is brown-yellow. Mahogany is reddish-brown. However, variation and sun fading will shift both alot. Teak is not ring porus; Mahogany isn't either, but looks like it is, with the darker little streaks. Direction of cut will affect the appearance of samples. Go shopping and look at the stuff where it's identified; you'll get the experience that you want. Be sure to smell it, too. You can also find good wood identifying sites on the net, color pictures good enough to print. You can buy veneer samplers from Constantines, but you don't have much control of the species they sell. (I've collected and scrounged several sets over the years; unfortunately time and storage affects color and smell.)

Tim's right in saying that Teak sanding dust feels sticky, however, dust from near the surface of weathered teak doesn't feel all that different. Similarly, the smell won't help you so much with weathered Teak or Mahogany, and various finishes will confuse the issue.

Has anybody been happy with some brand or other of 'Teak oil'? My one experience and a little reading suggests that it's little different than perfumed paint thinner. Certainly, Tung Oil is oil, and gives a nice finish. Linseed Oil is oil, and gives a nice finish on, say, Pine or Walnut, too. But Teak oil; I don't think so.

[Rachel]

I've always gone by the fresh sawdust smell too. Years back I had a friend who was a wooden boat worker and you could smell "teak dust" on his clothing from about 50 feet :)

[Mario G]

Watco teak oil is what I've been useing and it has all the teak on my C-22 that was neglected for 15+years looking beautiful.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/22 ... 6121lAIIoc

the pictures doesn't do it justice , I can't beleive there is anything that could have done a better job.

[Quetzalsailor]

Well, I fiddled around on the net, and then I went down to the barn and got to work on the Mahogany Flying Dutchman. I took a closer look at a piece of Mahogany scrap and it surely was porous. So, when I quit, showered and got back on the net. Mahogany is 'diffuse porous', which means that the pores are throughout the thickness of the wood rather than distinctly different at the rings, like Oak, Ash, Hickory.