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Teak, also known as Tecotona grandis, is a type of tropical hardwood that has a fresher leather-like smell and is highly valued for both its durability and water resistance. Teak wood is used widely, including boat construction, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and other types of small wood projects.Due to its high oil content, high tensile strength and tight grain, it is very good at resisting the weather so is often used for outdoor furniture and boat decks. Teak is also used widely in India to make doors, columns and beams in homes and is a very adaptable, easily workable wood. In fact, the oldest boat discovered to be made of teak is over 2000 years old and teak is probably the best material to use in boats as it is extremely durable and requires very little maintainance.
The teak will wear in soft summer growth bands that form an natural non-slip surface and any sanding or use of cleaning compounds, preservatives or oils is damaging. Teak should only be washed with salt water and be re-caulked when needed.
It comes from a large, deciduous tree that is found in mixed hardwood forests and is native to south and southeast asia. The tree itself producous tiny white flowers that are arranged in tight clusters along its greyish-brown branches, and it can reach up to 40m tall. Specifically, it originates in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, but has been naturalized and cultivated in countries across Africa and the Caribbean. Myanmar is the most common place to find it, producing nearly half of the world’s nautral teak.
The teak wood tree, tectona grandis, was first formally written about by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in the Supplementum Plantarum and its related species were described and separated by Norman Moldenke. Tectona hamiltoniana and tectona philippinensis are other tectona species bt they are endemic to Myanmar and the phillipines respectively, and have relativey small populations.
The heartwood (central wood) of the tree is golden-brown but it darkens with age an there is large variation depending on where the teak wood has come from and older growth wood tends to have much tighter rings than new growth. Meanwhile, the sapwood (outside wood between the bark and centre) is white or pale yellowish brown. It is very distinct and easy to separate from the heartwood. Overall, teak wood is hard and ring porous and its density depends upon the trees moisture content.
Teak wood has many natural oils, which makes the timber both termite and pest-resistant, and teak is durable even when not coated with oil or varnish. There is very little difference in durability and hardness between older teak and plantation-grown teak, and they both perform on par when tested for erosion rate, dimensional stability, and warping. Howeverr, plantation teak is more vulnerable to colour change after sun exposure.
Indonesia is the main country that produced commercially harvest teak on plantation. It’s production is cronolled by Perum Perhutani which is a state owned centerpirse that manges the countries vast forests. Teak in Indonesia is typically used to make furniture that is subsequently exported.
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