Sapele deck bad points please

[yachtkatja]

Hi I have a 30' Van de Stadt (for my sins) I have spoken to two professional boat chippies and both said you will have no problem building a deck from this hardwood, you might get "dusting" as it ages. and will be hot under foot in Mallorca.

Please post if you know any other points thanks or information......

 

[tillergirl]

I have a sapele ply deck which is glassed so I can't comment on dusting. That said some of the left overs are doing other duties and show no dusting. I would say though that the dust is nasty stuff when sanding and sawing. Irritated my skin and well worth wearing a face mast to stop breathing in the dust.

 

[Peterduck]

There are a number of timbers which will irritate the skin and nasal passages. Sapele is one of these, as is Iroko, Western Red Cedar, and White Birch. Treat these irritations as serious, because you can become sensitised to the timber, in which case effects will become cumulative. In the middle of an attack of this sort is not a good time to find out that you might be allergic to the aggressive components.
Peter.

 

[cliff]

Sapele (aka African Mahogany)
Scientific Name: Entandrophragma cylindricum

Other Names and Species:
Aboudikro
Libuyu
Muyovu
Penkwa
Sapelli
Sapelii


Origin:
West and East Africa, from the Ivory Coast to the Cameroons and eastward through Zaire to Uganda.

Appearance:
The sapwood of sapele tends to whitish or pale yellow and is distinct from the heartwood, which ranges in color from a medium to dark reddish or purplish brown. Sapele is lustrous and fine-textured, with an interlocked grain that is sometimes wavy, producing a narrow, uniform roe figure on quartered surfaces. When cut, it has a cedar-like scent.

Properties:
Sapele is quite durable and seasons rapidly, but with a marked tendency to warp, so careful stacking is required.

Janka Hardness: 1510
Sapele is about four percent harder than hard maple, is roughly eleven percent harder than white oak, about fifty-one percent harder than teak, close to four percent harder than sugar maple, is twenty-one percent softer than jarrah, and is about twenty two percent as hard as santos mahogany's ranking of 2200.

Workability:
This wood works equally well with hand and machine tools, and it saws and finishes easily. However, planing the surface tends to tear the interlocked grain. Sapele has good nailing and gluing properties.

Principal Uses:
Sapele is most commonly found in wood flooring and paneling, decorative veneers, furniture, and cabinetwork.

I am sure your "professional boat chippies" will have no problems working with Sapele but I personally would not deck a boat with it.
--------------------

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"

 

[yachtkatja]

Sapele deck or DecTec

Thanks for the information Cliff, I'm a little worried about the warping of the timber at say 6mm as this is the ideal for me. So....
I am now looking into DecTec the plastic decking. It seems very workable also has grip with low maintenance, anyone else using this product? what is the result/effect after a few seasons of salt and UV.
I have been to the web site.