How to Make New Teak Look Old?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Ah do it the old way. Put in your new teak piece, get a block of sandstone, and holystone the surrounding planks until they all match.

I'm pretty sure my back is too old and bent to do it myself but, if you're looking for a job it pays all the salt cod and hard tack you can eat, grog every day and twice on Sundays and £10 a month. I'll even throw in a dose of lime juice when your teeth start falling out.

[s/v Jedi]

"a bear, at sea, was only a holystone writ large" (Patrick O'Brian)

"The holystone is a large, soft stone, smooth on the bottom, with long ropes attached to each end, by which the crew keep it sliding fore and aft, over the wet, sanded decks.” (Richard Henry Dana, Jr. )

[Jim Cate]

Te-Ka part A is sodium hydroxide, part B phosphoric acid.

And Minaret is right... it really works to restore the color of teak. It does remove significant amounts of the softer parts, especially if you scrub hard with a brush, again as Minaret says. Use with caution.

Cheers,

Jim

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Therapy

You have to have some other things to do than dwell over a 2ft section of teak rail.

Oh not really. Just checked and my to do list is only about 15 pages so I have lots of spare time to obsess over minutiae.

Originally Posted by Therapy

Or..............

Tie a kayak to the stanchions so you can't see it - out of sight etc.

Not a kayak but it does give me a great idea. I'll just hang a fender over the side to cover that section and leave it there dangling as I motor up and down the ICW.

[bill cartwright]

Just give me your teak and I will put it on my boat and it will look old in no time! I guarentee results! =)

[Astrid]

In all deference to the author of Two Years Before the Mast, this is how I recall the process:

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Wait a few years. Works every time.

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Move to the tropics and wait a couple of months. Works regardless of any coatings or not

Yeh +1

Originally Posted by skipmac

Well it took 30 years for the old teak to look the way it does now. Not sure if I can wait quite that long for the new stuff.

Probably only took 3 to 6 months and then stayed the same for the next 29.5 years
Patience is a virtue.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Astrid

In all deference to the author of Two Years Before the Mast, this is how I recall the process:

Lol! Nice swabbie face. Doesn't look too happy with that...

[Astrid]

Lol, would you be?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Lol, would you be?

Speaking as a guy who's been grinding and sanding a deck for two months, I'm just kinda numb to it by now. Just wanna get it done.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Astrid

In all deference to the author of Two Years Before the Mast, this is how I recall the process:

This just reminds me one more time why I do not want another boat with teak decks, at least not until I can afford the crew.

Time to go buy that lottery ticket.

[motion30]

Those people are cleaning the decks ? I thought they were praying to Allah

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Te-Ka part A is sodium hydroxide, part B phosphoric acid.

And Minaret is right... it really works to restore the color of teak. It does remove significant amounts of the softer parts, especially if you scrub hard with a brush, again as Minaret says. Use with caution.

Cheers,

Jim

So there's the answer. Part A is the alkali and part B is the acid.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by savoir

So there's the answer. Part A is the alkali and part B is the acid.

I believe that all the 2-part teak cleaners work the same. Some use hydrochloric acid for step two so there's minor variations. The TE-KA looks like it's only sold in kits with equal amounts part A & part B ?

[zeehag]

sea water is better than the chemicals you add to change the teak. why even have it if you want to destroy it with all the chemicals and sanding and all that unnecessary fiddling about--just use sea water and oil. will age gracefully when you keep up with it, which, with 110 feet of it, mine only takes 6 hours annually. not bad for all my real teak wood.