Exotic Wood teak

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TEAK

Tectona Grandis

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 patina

end grain and end 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

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.

Brazilian teak, flooring sample donated by Dale Romine (thanks, Dale) --- I've rough sanded this and the scratch marks still show but both the side grain and end grain show up nicely in the enlargements. Later: I'm now unsure as to whether or not "Brazilian teak" is a flooring industry trade name of a wood that has nothing to do with teak.

web pics --- colors are mostly suspect

planks with very believable color

planks

plank listed as "genuine" teak

pen blanks

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)

quartersawn veneer

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