Teak alternatives

[Seven Spades]

Teak is now very expensive and as I understand it the quality is not what it was 30 years ago because it is now sourced from somewhere else. I was wondering if it is possible to have a boat decked with Manilkara Bidentata, it seems that there are no restrictions on this "bullet wood" and it looks quite similar to Teak.

Any experts her know anything about this wood?

 

[burgundyben]

Interesting, I'd never heard of it.

http://www.wood-database.com/bulletwood/

I'd seek advice from shipwrights and surveyors before using it, perhaps the mods would move this to the classic boat section.

 

[Seven Spades]

It seems it is cheap enough to use as "decking" for pool areas see here

https://www.advantagelumber.com/massaranduba_decking.htm#redwoodcompare

 

[sarabande]

Bulletwood (sometimes called "Pacific Jarrah" to make it more sound more familiar to Australians who like the Eucalyptus Jarrah)) is an irritant wood. If you are doing any work on it that involves sawdust, a mask is required.

Putting any through our sawmill would mean clean extractor bags and hazardous waste disposal for the dust (or burning it with forced draft to raise the temp above 1100C )

If not air-dried properly under controlled conditions, shakes (splits) can occur after working. Adhesives need careful selection to ensure bonding. It steam-bends well.



I can't immediately find anything about it's species' criticality (as teak) so probably OK to assume that it's a sustainable species at present.

 

[Georgio]

Have you considered Kebony as an alternative...

I have recently spend a week on a 2011 boat with Kebony decks that look like teak and still look new. http://kebony.com/


Personally, I don't see the point of sticking wood of any type on the decks of a GRP boat. A plastic boat is a plastic boat, no amount of wood trim will make it a classic wooden boat, all you are doing is adding weight and a future headache. It you really want the look I'd go for the very real-looking plastic/fake teak.

 

[johnlilley]

Most likely the biggest drawback will be the weight factor. It is 50% heavier than teak or iroko in an area on a boat where additional weight is of no benefit.
John Lilley

 

[westhinder]

If it is indeed Massaranduba that you mean, we used that for the structure of our wooden terrace 20 years ago. I remember it was incredibly hard, you could not put a screw into it unless you drilled a hole first. It has not moved a millimetre in those 20 years. We had to replace a number of planks in the terrace, so I could have a look at the beams and they were as new.
I do remember that it was very slippery when wet, so I am not convinced it would make a suitable deck. You would have to find a type of wood that matched the antislip properties of teak.

 

[Seven Spades]

That is interesting. Presumably you could overcome the weight issue by fitting thinner planks but if it is slippery then it will be hopeless.

 

[doug748]

You may not have seen this, Jeremy Rogers produced the boat as a design exercise, using Kebony.
A number of the issues raised above are given an airing:

http://www.jeremyrogers.co.uk/images-press/Calypso one year on PBO - Nov 2011.pdf

They still offer joinery in Kebony, as an option, for new boats.

 

[Mi Dushi 2]

Personally, I don't see the point of sticking wood of any type on the decks of a GRP boat. A plastic boat is a plastic boat, no amount of wood trim will make it a classic wooden boat, all you are doing is adding weight and a future headache. It you really want the look I'd go for the very real-looking plastic/fake teak.

I agree. I like the look of a new teak deck too. Synthetic alternatives like Flexiteek are lighter, cheaper, maintenance free and maybe more durable.

 

[pvb]

I agree. I like the look of a new teak deck too. Synthetic alternatives like Flexiteek are lighter, cheaper, maintenance free and maybe more durable.

I love teak decks, but faced with a looming bill for £30K to replace the worn teak deck on my old HR, I decided to sell the boat and buy a new boat with a fake teak deck. Two years on, I still think it was a sensible decision, the deck is virtually zero maintenance.