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ID this hardwood :)


W+T

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I think i got a good deal here for the galley worktop at £30 fro these two lengths of hardwood and 27mm thick, perfic :)

 

But as i am no joiner and the seller stated it is either Iroko or Mahogany and was an old science school work bench, and i think it could be Teak, what the hell do i know though lol.

 

Throw your thoughts at this then folks.

 

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Other/bottom side

 

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Well its brown so quite likely 'mahogany' but there's a few different types of 'mahogany' Don't think its teak as teak is greyish but I've just repaired a brown door with a bit of teak offcut and stained it and it looks pretty much identical to the brown wood. Nice bit of wood though.

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Certainly doenst matter what it is as i was prepared to pay near £150, mite go back as he has another few 2m lengths and a massive slab about 240x60x40  

 

I need to work out abotu what to do now with it, said i am no joiner, it has a crack when it as separated which i think if i read correctly i can fill it with filler of the correct colour.

 

 

Should i cut it to the template then sand back and plane if need be, or sand/plane then cut to template. 

 

Does it matter? 

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there is such a variety of figuring in mahogany and iroko that it would be difficult to give a definitive answer, but unless it's been stained red it ain't teak.

 

:offtopic:  most people including Robbins (the marine timber specialists) pronounce sapele sapeelee;  when I worked in Nigeria we used to spend sundays at the Sapele country club (swimming, golf, tennis) and can confirm that the local pronunciation is sapelly.

Edited by Murflynn
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4 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

there is such a variety of figuring in mahogany and iroko that it would be difficult to give a definitive answer, but unless it's been stained red it ain't teak.

 

:offtopic:  most people including Robbins (the marine timber specialists) pronounce sapele sapeelee;  when I worked in Nigeria we used to spend sundays at the Sapele country club (swimming, golf, tennis) and can confirm that the local pronunciation is sapelly.

Keeping off topic

 

But when you Sapele and Sapeelee it sound sthe same, depends on how fats you talk init. Now Sapelly, i like that word ;0

 

Cant beat my fav word Moist :)

 

Oh on topic, i will give a quick sand this week and see what its like underneath. 

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44 minutes ago, W+T said:

Should i cut it to the template then sand back and plane if need be, or sand/plane then cut to template. 

Definitely the latter :)

It could even be utile but I doubt that, considering its age. 

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Old school workbenches or even "old school" workbenches if used in science labs as opposed to woodworking shops were made of teak.

This is because all the nasty chemicals you used to be able to use in chemistry lessons couldn't destroy the fu**er. To me (in the sanded photo) teak looks like what you got. I'm a chemist not a woodworker. I take it the indestructible element is good. Acetone will clean it but even though its an aggressive solvent it not attack it (hence the use in chemistry labs). I have used danish oil on teak (don't varnish, it looks nice but the wood is harder wearing than the varnish which defeats the object) but been told that Tung oil is better. 

 

oh yeah and you won't plane it, just try

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2 minutes ago, 36national said:

Old school workbenches or even "old school" workbenches if used in science labs as opposed to woodworking shops were made of teak.

This is because all the nasty chemicals you used to be able to use in chemistry lessons couldn't destroy the fu**er. To me (in the sanded photo) teak looks like what you got. I'm a chemist not a woodworker. I take it the indestructible element is good. Acetone will clean it but even though its an aggressive solvent it not attack it (hence the use in chemistry labs). I have used danish oil on teak (don't varnish, it looks nice but the wood is harder wearing than the varnish which defeats the object) but been told that Tung oil is better. 

 

 

I was planning to use this as i have been told and read is is great for this job.

 

https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/varprices.html

 

There is some debate now as to what it is, Utile which Tony says ( Whatever ) what it could be is a new one to me. 

 

 

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I wouldn’t worry about what it is unless you need to glue it. If you do and it is teak it won’t stick without first cleaning the faces with acetone. Other than that, just enjoy its beauty :)

Le Tonkenois is just as fine on teak as it is on mahogany. 

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16 minutes ago, W+T said:

Utile is a new one to me. 

You’ve seen utile on Colin’s dogbox:

BE39A243-01C6-4458-A19B-5B71001CE93C.jpeg.d0157a84ac428418981272ac879699b3.jpeg

 

6 minutes ago, 36national said:

the link refers to varnish

its up to you but  varnish tends to age and crack. this means you gotta sand and re-coat.  If you use oil or polish all you gotta do is re oil or re-polish.

No, the link refers to Le Tonkenois, which does not age or crack. It is a tung oil based product. I suggest you read the info on their site if you are unaware of the product. 

Edited by WotEver
Clarity
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A mate of mine got a length of workbench from the old power station at Gravelly Hill and he made an electric guitar out of it. It was definitely either mahogany or one of the clones. 

Wayne’s lump of timber could indeed be teak as the appearance of freshly prepared teak isn’t that far removed from mahogany (dependant on the grain type). Most mahoganys will have a reddish tint whereas teak will be brownish or even yellowish. As I said earlier the only real difference that could affect him is glueing it. 

Oh, and if it is teak it’ll blunt his saws quickly. 

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45 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Oh, and if it is teak it’ll blunt his saws quickly. 

And it will blunt the plane quickly & tear out as the grain goes in so many different directions in a very short space.

ETA I think its teak looking at the grain, the colour can be anything you want to stain it but you cant alter the grain. 

Edited by sharpness
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12 minutes ago, sharpness said:

And it will blunt the plane quickly & tear out as the grain goes in so many different directions in a very short space.

As will many cuts of mahogany. I had to spend a lot of time with belt sanding then RO sanding and then finally scraping the wide end pieces of utile on that dogbox. They were impossible to plane even with a low angle and super sharp iron. 

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