Can Teak be Re-Shaped?

[SvenG]

Originally Posted by Richard5

Planning makes wood thinner

But most of the time it just makes you think ahead.



-Sven

[Nicholson58]

You can select new wood or replace in an alternate non-wood material. Solid Lexan comes to mind. If you want wood, I suggest IPE. We can get it at local specialty shops. It is dense, extremely strong and does not need oil or varnish to stay good looking for many years. I have seen it in wide planks. You might find it on line. I happened into Jara a few yeas ago. It behaves much like IPE but may now be protected.

I did some research on bending teak for our 45 foot X 2 X 3 splash/rub rails. I was told that all imported wood in the US must be kiln dried. Once dried, It cannot be made soft even in a steam box. Reversing the warp in flat board is a zero cost endevor but may also be fruitless.

[glenn.225]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Once dried, It cannot be made soft even in a steam box.

NOT TRUE, it will take a little longer in steam. But it will still work same as green (fresh non dried) wood. Steaming is great for altering the shape of wood and if held in place till really dried and sealed it will hold shape. Especially if two or more layers are glued together. I have tied knots with wood. So I would steam (or hot water works well too) dry and seal as stated above.

[gonesail]

it would be worth it if you can fix the existing wood. replacement teak boards are expensive and they may end up warped too. you might also try mahogany. good luck.

[Thumbs Up]

Boards can cup like that due to moisture differential. Completely remove the finish on both sides, then put the concave side in the sun and see what happens. If this doesn't work then you could cut a series of kerfs about 2/3 the thickness of the board on the convex side. Fill these with thickened epoxy and clamp or weight it down so that it is flat. After it cures scrape or sand the excess off and finish it however you like.

[Steve Bean]

Wouldn't the sun on the concave side cause more cupping? I would wet the concave side and expose the convex side to the sun. It would be easy to test this with some other pieces of wood. The redwood siding boards on my house tend to become concave on the exposed side.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by glenn.225

NOT TRUE, it will take a little longer in steam. But it will still work same as green (fresh non dried) wood. Steaming is great for altering the shape of wood and if held in place till really dried and sealed it will hold shape. Especially if two or more layers are glued together. I have tied knots with wood. So I would steam (or hot water works well too) dry and seal as stated above.

I have tied knots with green wood too. I ignored the advice of two wood boat builders who both told me kiln dried teak can no longer be made soft in water ot steam. I shattered 800 bucks worth trying to prove them wrong. My research found that the nicely formed teak on our 1984 Camper & Nicholson was done it the 'bad ole' days' when green teak could be imported (to England in this case). The fresh, green wood was milled and shaped to make the splash & rails in 45 to 60 foot continuous planks. Since only kiln dried is allowed in for environmental protection reasons, I will need to wait till the boat is where the teak grows to replace the splash rails. I replaced my 1-1/4" thick X 3-1/2" wide toe rails using wide boards or JARA milled to the curve in 6-foot sections.

As I noted previously, trying to reshape the boards is free. The OP might have some success since the boards are relatively thin, however, I seriously doubt he will be satisfied.

Ipe Decking - Ipe Lumber, Ipe Decking Supplies, Ipe Wood Here is a link for dimensional IPE up to 12 inches wide. Its not cheap but has an un-oiled, un-varnished life of 45 years in the sun. Friends have a backyard deck of this that was installed 8 years ago. It receives ZERO attention and looks like new.

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

Boards can cup like that due to moisture differential. Completely remove the finish on both sides, then put the concave side in the sun and see what happens. If this doesn't work then you could cut a series of kerfs about 2/3 the thickness of the board on the convex side. Fill these with thickened epoxy and clamp or weight it down so that it is flat. After it cures scrape or sand the excess off and finish it however you like.

There isn't any finish on the 40 year old boards, they are in decent shape other than the curvature.
I was thinking about leaving them in a tub of water in the sun in my cockpit with some weight on them for a while.
Then sanding and varnishing with Epifanes high gloss.

Do you think they will become flat again? And then hold the flatness after staining and varnishing?