Boat Forum / Building / April 2005

Or, how about Iroko. I use it instead of teak on my Ingrid 38, for rail caps
and interior trim. It was $3.55/bf from EdenSaw, here is WA.

Here are a couple pictures of  sections of the caprail and rudder cheeks.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/caprai~1.jpg

http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/windva~1.jpg

It is admittedly dark, compared to Burmese teak but I like it. It would be
lighter if I got the Cetal on before the surface darkened.

Iroko doesn't bend well and if you leave it to weather naturally, it doesn't
do as well as teak. Interior trim, that I haven't vanished or sealed yet,
continue to darken to almost a walnut color.

In this picture I show a teak door with Iroko trimmed frame.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/teakdr~1.jpg
The arched beam in the foreground is Iroko.

This may or may not be of interest to you, depending on whether you're
looking for a substitute of teak for deck material or not.
The magazine "Dockside California Edition" had a good review article in
their March 2005 issue of alternative deck materials. I can't find the
article on their online archive, but I can probably email you a scan if
you need it.
The materials they review are: flexiteek, lonseal, tek-dek, and
marinedeck 2000.
Cheers,
Teri
s/v Shadow Line

Joe Bleau Wrote:

Jatoba is a very attractive wood, but it is also very brittle an
easily checks when routing or planing. It's a pain in the a.s to wor
but it sure looks nice.
---Joel--

--
boatbuilder.org

Ipe is very heavy (don't drop it over, it will go straight to the bottom),
is difficult to work, and provides really nasty splinters. But it is touted
to be more rot-resistant than CCA-treated lumber.

It is also pretty - I have some as edging on my kitchen sink.  I'll let you
know how it does, in a few years. I have some scraps and used pallets of the
stuff and, when I can borrow a band-saw, plan to make some cleats and
"hardware".

Sal's Dad

Not informed until I became curious enough to look them up in a book:

Jatoba aka Courbaril aka Locust:

910kg/m3, Interlocked grain, very strong and hard, bends well, glues and
screws well, moderately durable but not the sapwood. small movement.

Used for boat planking, steam bending, turning, cabinetry, lock gates,

Ipe aka ironwood:

960-1200 kg/m3, very strong and hard and resistant to bending. Difficult to
work, very durable, small movement.

Used for bridge building, docks, exterior construction, joinery, cabinets.

Both of these timbers are much denser and harder than teak (610-690kg/m3).

Tim W