teak

WOOD ID POSTER:
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240 woods on a poster (24"x36")

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TEAK

Tectona grandis

NOTE: there are at least 60 species from over 2 dozen genera that have "teak" as all or part of one or more of their common names. Although this page is primarily for Tectona grandis ("genuine teak"), I may put other teaks (specifically identified) here if and when I encounter them.

my samples:

small piece and end grain

end grain closeup from the piece directly above

two 3/4" planks, most likely cut from the same section of the same tree. The apparently lighter color at and above the knothole on each is more a function of the placement of the light source for the pic than of the color in the planks, which was quite uniform. Both of these have the typical greasy feel of teak.

plank and end grain --- this piece was cut from one of the larger planks directly above and as you can see, the sanding has removed some of the slightly shiny greenish patina.

end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank. The side in the first pic was sanded but the side in the 2nd pic was not so still shows a slightly orangish patina

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

teak plank reported to have been salvaged (and resawn) from an old building in Southeast Asia --- this is one of those pieces that make me sympathetic with vendors who say "the pics just don't do justice to this wood". The curl is obvious in the pics but just isn't nearly as pretty as in the real wood when seen at the right angle.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

face grain closeup of the piece directly above

plank shot at a lumber yard, particularly because it was so light colored and with an interesting grain pattern

planks photographed at a lumber yard --- there is a hair too much yellow in the pics, but only a hair; these planks really were a golden brown

misc planks photographed at a lumber yard --- golden brown color is quite accurate

veneer

quartersawn flaky veneer with accurate color

flat cut veneer with accurately depicted golden-tinted tan color

veneer with accurately depicted light tan color. The top sheet has a small crotch-like area and both have a faint curly figure.

both sides of a small teak burl piece

end grain of the burl piece directly above

web pics --- colors are mostly suspect

plank with wet and dry sections

planks listed as teak / Tectona grandis

planks with very believable color

planks

planks listed as Central American teak --- I have not researched whether or not this is perhaps some non-teak wood that is just CALLED teak (the way, for example, that jatoba is called Brazilian cherry even though it totally unrelated to cherry)

planks listed as Asian teak

plank showing both wet and dry sections

plank listed as "genuine" teak

bowl blanks and a closeup

pen blanks

scales listed as tropical teak

flat cut veneer

bookmatched flat cut veneer

quartersawn veneer

bookmatched quartersawn veneer

bookmatched quartersawn figured veneer

veneer

veneer not listed as having any particular figure, but it appears to have a bee's wing figure and the color seems wrong to me (too red)

veneer listed as Brazilian teak

Brazilian teak veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement

flat cut veneer

figured veneer

flat cut figured veneer --- the "figure" in this case is a curl; compare this to the "figure" a few pics down from here which is a mottle.

figured veneer and a closeup --- the "figure" is clearly a mottle, not a curl

quartersawn figured veneer --- the "figure" in this case is clearly a mottle, not a curl

listed as mottled veneer, both of these look to me to be the same as the samples directly above which were listed only as "figured" veneer, showing once again how loosely and inconsistantly such terms are used by various vendors

listed as quartersawn figured veneer but the only figure I see is ray flakes and that is not normally called "figured". Both levels of enlargement are present, so you can judge for yourself.

Burma teak planks --- I'm not familiar with this variety, so cannot comment on the accuracy of the color. All four of these pics are of the same plank

Burma teak with wet and dry sections

both sides and two closeups of a flat cut Burma teak plank

Burma teak planks

figured Burma teak

Rhodesian teak scales

all of these pics are from the BogusColorVendor so I'm not confident of the orange tint in the color

planks

both sides of a plank and a closeup

flat cut Burma teak plank and closeup

both sides and a closeup of a quartersawn Burma teak plank

all of the above are from the BogusColorVendor so I'm not confident of the orange tint in the color