Alternatives to tropical hardwood

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owen

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I have a teak handrail on the boat which has rotted and needs replacing. It is about 3m long. i was thinking of alternatives to tropical hardwood. I wonder if anyone has used an alternative that will look ok , be strong and long lived ??
 
owen said:
I have a teak handrail on the boat which has rotted and needs replacing. It is about 3m long. i was thinking of alternatives to tropical hardwood. I wonder if anyone has used an alternative that will look ok , be strong and long lived ??
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I use Iroko which is an African hard wood that is similar to teak being oiled and after time goes a nice dark brown.

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Thanks roger. i did look at iroko ,meranti etc but then wondered if there was a non tropical hardwood alternative
 
I don't know what sizes and profiles are available but you could look at Thermowood which is head treated softwood. The treatment apparently makes the wood much harder and more resilient.
 
The Australian Government has cracked down on imported timber because a lot of trees are being felled illegally. The UK Government has passed similar legislation so you may not have the choice you once had.
 
Arent there some good synthetic teak-a-likes that could be used on a base of another synthetic material or proper marine ply?

I understand the concerns about tropical hardwood, but used teak is often available (reclaimed) and can be very good indeed, possibly even better than the current estate grown "sustainable" product.
 
Kebony is one alternative though probably costly:

https://kebony.com/en/content/use-maintenance

There is a UK agent. Jeremy Rogers trimmed a boat with it some years ago. Otherwise oak, as suggested. Go to a country sawmill and they will sort you out.

PS,

Forgot the obvious which you probably already know, you won't find anything like a match so you may have to make two if you have two handrails. Most temperate, commercial hardwoods are lightish in colour many with pronounced grain, many suitable, tropical hardwoods are darker with a more subdued appearance.
 
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Isn't the snag with Oak that it blackens when weathered, especially if there's any iron around? And it rots iron fastenings? Also, it can stain material in contact with it? Many church pews are Oak, and I know from personal experience that in hot weather a white shirt can get stained by them after contact of less than an hour if you're sweating a little. And that's not the finish - it has happened in several churches, so it is unlikely that they all used the same finish on the wood.

Oak has excellent mechanical properties, but its cosmetic qualities are less good.

That said, I'd have thought that there must be a suitable timber that grows in Northern forests. But the problem is that forestry in the UK tends to focus on fast-growing softwoods.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Isn't the snag with Oak that it blackens when weathered, especially if there's any iron around? And it rots iron fastenings? Also, it can stain material in contact with it? Many church pews are Oak, and I know from personal experience that in hot weather a white shirt can get stained by them after contact of less than an hour if you're sweating a little. And that's not the finish - it has happened in several churches, so it is unlikely that they all used the same finish on the wood.

Oak has excellent mechanical properties, but its cosmetic qualities are less good.

That said, I'd have thought that there must be a suitable timber that grows in Northern forests. But the problem is that forestry in the UK tends to focus on fast-growing softwoods.
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Could epoxy sealed Oak be an answer?
 
For sheds/decks Western Red Cedar is regarded as the most rot resistance softwood.

You could also consider Mahogany - yes I know it is a tropical hardwood but it is probably easier to source from reliable sustainable sources than teak.
 
owen said:
I have a teak handrail on the boat which has rotted and needs replacing. It is about 3m long. i was thinking of alternatives to tropical hardwood. I wonder if anyone has used an alternative that will look ok , be strong and long lived ??
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Stainless steel.
A hand rail on a boat is not an ornamment.
 
There's nowt wrong with wood used properly, after all, the Mosquito was made of it. The ash my tiller is made from has the right mechanical properties but is a bit of a nightmare to keep looking good since it blackens so quickly when exposed.
 
johnalison said:
There's nowt wrong with wood used properly, after all, the Mosquito was made of it. The ash my tiller is made from has the right mechanical properties but is a bit of a nightmare to keep looking good since it blackens so quickly when exposed.
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And how many Mosquitos are still flying? Just looked - 3 out of over 7600 produced. And there was an early string of failures because the builders had used the wrong glue or some such. However, not arguing that wood used correctly is a good material; plenty of boats made of it still going strong over 100 years after being built (not to mention HMS Victory, still in commission after about 250 years). The question is whether there's a suitable wood for the purpose that can be sourced renewably without devastating tropical forests.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
And how many Mosquitos are still flying? Just looked - 3 out of over 7600 produced. And there was an early string of failures because the builders had used the wrong glue or some such. However, not arguing that wood used correctly is a good material; plenty of boats made of it still going strong over 100 years after being built (not to mention HMS Victory, still in commission after about 250 years). The question is whether there's a suitable wood for the purpose that can be sourced renewably without devastating tropical forests.
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There must be a load of old wood lying around. You can buy an antique mahogany cabinet for about £40 these days since nobody wants them. Sadly, they didn't make them from teak.
 
owen said:
I have a teak handrail on the boat which has rotted and needs replacing. It is about 3m long. i was thinking of alternatives to tropical hardwood. I wonder if anyone has used an alternative that will look ok , be strong and long lived ??
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Find a University where they are refurbishing laboratories, many of them will be. The contractors will be skipping the old teak bench tops. Typically 30mm thick x 500mm - 750mm wide and lengths up to 4m. I have several in storage but sorry not parting with them.
 
Zing said:
Check out Lignia. A treated softwood alternative to teak. I’ve not tried it.
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I believe Spirit Yachts now use Lignia for their decks.

Also, Oyster Yachts , but I believe you could have teak if particularly requested.

I have found it very difficult to find reclaimed hardwoods despite touring furniture charity shops.
 
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