Teak or Mahogany?

[david_e]

I am trying to find our whether the toe rails on First 31.7 are made from Teak or Mahogany.

Boat is new but had been in stock for a while and the toe rails had a coat of "something from Jewsons" slapped on it to make it look nice aprox a year ago. 6 months into ownership and it is flaking like a leper and driving me mad.

Have asked the dealer salesbod 3 or 4 times & emailed their special new after sales department (no reply) to find out what the toe rails are made from but so far no firm reply. Dragged salesbod down to baot but when he came down the bod just said if it is mahogany it needs to be re-varnished (or re-splogged) and if teak can be left, but he couldn't say what it is. Strange 'cause he has been around a while but still no answer from them.

Most visitors seem to think it is teak but as the colour from the splogge has gone into it, are never certain.

The sales information spec talks about 'mahogany footrests' but not much else.

Short of taking a sample to an expert, is there an easy way to be certain?

If it does need re-splogging is this a normal warranty/sale of goods type problem or a Tango Sierra, sort it youself situation?

Help please - Frustrated of Peely Weely)

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[aztec]

i could be wrong her (again), but given that it's flaking i'd go for teak. something to do with oils and stuff. i painted a bit of mahogany and it stayed painted. why not just strip it rub it and oil it.. i prefer oiled finish anyhow.

good luck, steve.

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[billmacfarlane]

Difficult to say but most toe rails are made of teak and they are practically impossible to coat with anything becaus eas someone elsa has said teak is a very oily wood. If it is teak, and I'd say it is, scrape the gunk off and either leave it or coat it in a silicon based sealer once a year. As a matter of interest if the biat has mahogany footrests do they look the same as the toe rail ?

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[david_e]

Hi Bill, the footrests are not evidently visible so, unless they are an extra, I have read this as French for toe rail.

If it is teak I would be happy to scrape the rest off and leave it, but am worried that if I mistake it for Mahogany then it will ruin the wood. Could do with a tip on how to tell the difference.

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[tillergirl]

If the natural colour is completely hidden by the coating, the grain is the way to tell. How to describe it is beyond me. Got any digital pictures of it?

As a general rule the original colour of teak is brown, mahagony has a reddish colour. Generally teak will have a straighter tighter grain but I have a piece in the shed which will prove that there are exceptions to this.

I suspect it will be teak but frankly either post a piccy or get into your local library and see if they have Collins Complete Woodworkers Manual or something similar. The Collins book has some really good images of different hard and softwoods.

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[ccscott49]

I would say the toerails are teak, nobody in there right mind would use mahogony for that, it's just not hard wearing enough, especially on a modern boat. Could also be Iroko, how expensive are these boats? if cheapish, probaly iroko or vice versa. But teak is distinctive, sand a bit, if the dust coming off sticks together it's probably teak/iroko and should be brown, iif slightly reddish and non sticky mahogony, but I still doubt it very much. By the way, you can oil mahogony, teak oil has nothing to do with teak, it's just oil, with a few additives, not actual oil from teak.

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[Covey]

Teak is an option on the F31.7, and will be uncoated. Mahogany is standard, which they varnish.

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[ccscott49]

Unbelievable, I just thought nobody would do that. Wrong again.

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[quaelgeist2]

Maybe it helps...

The First 31.7 (and others) in our marina ALL First with wooden footrails have them from teak. It's easily visible because no one had the idea to varnish them, yet.

To be 100% sure, take some sanding paper and lightlt sand a small bit - teak has a particular smell. Mahogany hasn't the same.

Last not least, if you want a treatment that serves well regardless whether teak or mahogany AND does not flake off: Deksolje 1 (or short D1) which is soaked deeply into the wood like teakoil but dries off to leave a satin finish. If, after some time (1-2 seasons) it does not look nice enough, lightly sand and reapply. Only downside: needs some 4-5 applications wet-on-wet when done first. Treated my grabrails that way and they stayed grippy AND protected.

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[david_e]

Thanks all, will email these replies to dealer to see what response I get!

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