Teak
Teak is a heavy wood, with a thin, whitish or yellowish sapwood, well differentiated from the fresh yellow gold heartwood that matures to brown yellow, sometimes with darker green and variegated tones.
The texture is fine and the grain is mostly straight.
It has a shiny appearance, while to the touch it appears fat.
Technological properties
Teak is characterized by a semi-hard wood, very resistant to bending and yielding. It is easy to work, including the peeling (even if rarely practiced) and the blanking, to which the particularly regular stems or with particular deviations of the grain are destined.
It is characterized by excellent stability in operation after the seasoning. Very durable and resistant to insect attacks.
The characteristics of the timber coming from the plantations, although they are influenced by the cultivation methods, are to be considered comparable to those of the Asian forest teak, with the same age of the trees, even if the presence of defects is often more frequent.
Use
It is one of the finest tropical woods, used for furnishing objects and valuable furniture (for its warm appearance), cabinet-making, interior and exterior cladding for boats, veneers, but also floor and garden furniture lists.
Since its discovery by the Europeans it has been used for shipbuilding, this use has been preserved for the bridges of valuable vessels.
Typical defects
Greased wood with calcareous and silica deposits.
Technical details of teak
Family | Verbenaceae Family |
Scientific name | Tectona grandis L.f. |
Other names | Kyun (Myannmar); Sagun, Tadi, Tekku (India); Giati (Viet Nam) |
Geographical origin | It grows naturally in South Asia, in India, in Indonesia and in Vietnam. Plantains of this species are present in all the tropical areas of the globe |
Specific weight Medium | Fresh 1000 kg/m³ |
Dried 680 kg/m³ | |
Sawing | With attention to the silica contents that wear out the tools |
Drying | From slow to very slow with risks of deformation and cracks |
Planing | To consider the presence of silica which makes it abrasive |
Gluing | Difficult due to oily content |
Nailing and screwing | We recommend pre-drilling the seats |