what is this wood then?

[thallow]

Having seen petemaddex' beautiful xmas table post - it has gotten me thinking, I was recently given 2 old tables that look similar to Pete's. At the time I was told that they were piranah pine and not worth recycling - how can I tell if they are teak? If it helps it has been out in the elements for a couple of months and has a slight white appearance appearing on its surface???

This is the only pic I have at the moment, sorry it is such a naff one of the table - will get a close up shortly, pls igonore the frame, that is still WIP (nearly finished) but the table that it is leaning against is the one that I am talking about.

Any Ideas???

[dom]

Sorry Thallow, but not a hope in hell with that picture matey.

[mel]

please tell me you know the difference between a hard wood and a soft wood


hat coat . im gone

[mel]

HTH
the blue rope on the table top is probably polypropalene
the orange bucket is of the B+Q variety definitely plastic
the two grey shovels on the table are also plastic
the dust sheet in the background is cotton twill
and the chair is injection moulded green plastic

as for the table


i aint got a clue from that photo ;D ;D ;D

[thallow]

OK OK It was a daft question! I will post a better pic.....

What I should have asked is :

what easy pointers are there to say if something is teak....or not?

Mel you missed my old green t-shirt on the table! (100% cotton ;D ;D ;D)

[jaco]

Send the table over to me, and i wiil do a full evaluation for you.
;D ;D
(remember to use incoterms of DDP)

Keep the t-shirt, green does not match the colour of my eyes ..........

;D ;D

[petemaddex]

Hi, Thallow

The legs look like Beech, the top who knows its far to dirty to tell, plane some off an post a photo.


Pete

[argus]

Thallow,

Joking aside, the appearance of Teak and Parana pine are vastly different in my opinion and should be visible in a good quality photo.

Parana Pine is generally used in stair treads and the like (probably including table tops, but not necessarily) because it is available in wide boards, usually 12" plus. It is a pale timber in colour when freshly sawn, often with pinkish streaks. Generally acknowledge to be a bit of a bugger to dry – wide boards often cup.
It is technically softwood, though this term refers to the botany of the tree, not its mechanical strength or density.
Real Teak has many imitators, but can be anything from a dark orange to light brown when fresh cut and can silver a bit when out in the open.
Parana is not durable outside, while Teak is.

Why not clean a bit up, down to the fresh wood, and post a close-up? It’ll give us a better idea.

[evergreen]

Thallow

Argus is right; there's little chance of confusing parana pine with teak. I had a parana pine staircase in my last house and most boards had streaks of dark brown and red. The background colour was pale honey.

You might get a clue about what wood it is if you know what the table was originally used for. Teak has always been prized and therefore relatively expensive. It would be unusual for teak to be used for some general purpose table. Iroko was often used instead. A relative once gave me an old bar top from a pub and told me it was definitely, without doubt "teak". Er, nope. When I cleaned it up, it was iroko!

BTW, if you've been having the rain that we've been having down south, I don't think that table will be good for much unless it's made of something more durable than panana pine.

Regards.
Regards.