Can Teak be Re-Shaped?

[endoftheroad]

My original washboards are out of wack.
I mean they got a curve to them lengthwise.
My question is;
Can I sit them in a tub of water with a weight on them for them to become flat again?
And of course let them dry with a weight on them also.

Probably a dumb question so sorry in advance.

I'd like to breathe life back into them and varnish them.

Thanks

[Richard5]

You mean the boards you put across the opening of the main hatch leading into the cabin?

Do you mean across the width of the board or across the width of the hatch opening? In the former this is called cupping. In the latter this is warping or twist along the length of the board (width of hatch opening)

Planning makes wood thinner which is not a good idea for your purpose.

The answer to your question is yes the boards can be made flat again.

[endoftheroad]

Richard,
That's good news!

Use water in a tub?
Seems like them sitting in the cockpit in the sun should do the trick.
Should I put weight on them while they are drying to prevent the curving from coming back?

[Richard5]

Yes, the weight on the boards will take out the twist although you may find out you have to increase the weight to get them satisfactorily flat. There are a variety of methods to prevent or reduce the amount of twist into the future. Prolly the easiest is to screw stiffeners (angle iron or something) to the inside of the wash boards. Run the stiffener across the width of the board and not far in from the board end.

You could also let the stiffener into a dado cut into the washboards. Or you could go with 'breadboard ends'. You haven't said if the washboards are ply or solid wood...it is important. The best you could do is keep up with maintenance especially in a climate like the Keys.

[robert sailor]

When you get the wood back to original shape make sure to seal it with some sort of finish that will keep moisture out.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Wood has a memory.

Once it's taken a shape it will always revert to said shape.

As it turns out, it's not really memory, it's the grain/structure of the wood.

So the shape it takes is about what it began as.

Poorly sawn wood, bad wood will all do the same.

Which is just opposite, of wood with a good grain, and properly sawn.

Washboards are, about 4-5 board feet.

Even if teak at $24.00 aboard foot, Money would be better spent selecting new wood.

Lloyd

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

My original washboards are out of wack.
I mean they got a curve to them lengthwise.
My question is;
Can I sit them in a tub of water with a weight on them for them to become flat again?
And of course let them dry with a weight on them also.

Probably a dumb question so sorry in advance.

I'd like to breathe life back into them and varnish them.

Thanks

[Steve Bean]

Google woodworking steam box.

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

Wood has a memory.

Once it's taken a shape it will always revert to said shape.

As it turns out, it's not really memory, it's the grain/structure of the wood.

So the shape it takes is about what it began as.

Poorly sawn wood, bad wood will all do the same.

Which is just opposite, of wood with a good grain, and properly sawn.

Washboards are, about 4-5 board feet.

Even if teak at $24.00 aboard foot, Money would be better spent selecting new wood.

Lloyd

What is said here is not enough inaccurate to make much ado about. But I will say it doesn't have to be as disastrous as it sounds. I've seen fine wide boards made of varying species of Eucalyptus or Manzanita. These species are well known as about the most contorted, twisted grain as one will ever see. Yet if the sawyer takes care and the craftsman keeps up his end these species can be and are used in making fine furniture.

Our man has met the true culprit which is lack of maintenance perhaps helped along by already distressed wood either salvaged or improperly sawn and stickered for drying. Avast, it's not yet time to give up the ship ('s washboards). Take heart, what was done can be undone.

Disclaimer: what I have said comes all undone if it is ply.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by Richard5

What is said here is not enough inaccurate to make much ado about. But I will say it doesn't have to be as disastrous as it sounds. I've seen fine wide boards made of varying species of Eucalyptus or Manzanita. These species are well known as about the most contorted, twisted grain as one will ever see. Yet if the sawyer takes care and the craftsman keeps up his end these species can be and are used in making fine furniture.

Our man has met the true culprit which is lack of maintenance perhaps helped along by already distressed wood either salvaged or improperly sawn and stickered for drying. Avast, it's not yet time to give up the ship ('s washboards). Take heart, what was done can be undone.

Disclaimer: what I have said comes all undone if it is ply.

While everything you say is true.

I have found that.

Many more times, I have spent more hours in repent then in.

Re-New.

And as the way is now, Materiel is a far shorter costs then LABOR.

Lloyd

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

While everything you say is true.

I have found that.

Many more times, I have spent more hours in repent then in.

Re-New.

And as the way is now, Materiel is a far shorter costs then LABOR.

Lloyd

I wholeheartedly agree. Yet I meant only to save the chap his money. I understand the Keys are the end of the road in more ways than one. There, labor is cheap and plentiful.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by Richard5

I wholeheartedly agree. Yet I meant only to save the chap his money. I understand the Keys are the end of the road in more ways than one. There, labor is cheap and plentiful.

but i intend to labor as little as possible.

so if i re-new, and do it year in and year out.

ori

buy new, and right.

i will labor less.

i will then have more time, money and labor.

Lloyd

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

but i intend to labor as little as possible.

so if i re-new, and do it year in and year out.

ori

buy new, and right.

i will labor less.

i will then have more time, money and labor.

Lloyd

Aye, so it's all about you!

You don't sleep with a level, right? Or install a 10 micron filter on the exhaust fan over the head, right? Or inspect with a jeweler's loupe the flatware, right?

As for me, I've recovered enough that I am able to step on a crack without supervision.

[endoftheroad]

They are solid teak boards not ply

[cburger]

This is one of those cases where you really have nothing to lose, go with your original idea weight the boards and if works out good to go,

[bill cartwright]

I have read all the posts and you say you have solid boards for your hatch boards and they warp (have a twist in them) and they are hard to get in an out. Am I correct? An assumption on my behalf is that the interior is varnished and looks great and the exterior has been coated and recoated but never stripped down to the bare wood. You believe you would have to replace the boards yearly of you replaced them each time. My sugestion to you is to select new wood with thecorrect grain and rebuild them an leave one eight clearence so they have room. Then make a sumbrella cover for the hatchway that covers all the wood in question. Make sure you do a good job on finishes and no hardware store varnish but Marine Schooner Gold is best in my books and block sand between. If done this way the boat hatchboards will last longer than you and I if the cover is put back on when yopu are done with the boat. I think you got a bad board and we know all the boards are generally cut out of the same board. Maintaining grain and color is basic reason. At least for me. I get depressed trying to get the twist out and still have wasted the effort and wind up replacing it in the end.