Machining old teak

[MattB]

Hello - first post. I've been a dabbling wood worker for many years but am mostly familiar with using old hand tools. I am not at all experienced with either jointers or thicknessers.
I have a project involving *a lot* of reclaimed teak. The planks are up to 8" wide and 1.5" thick are all in a poor cosmetic state, and some have got rot that needs machining away. Some planks are twisted and some very convex.
I have used a combination of newly acquired power plane (Dewalt D26500K) and a Stanley No 6 hand plane to produce 1" flat parallel sided planks but it is a slow process. A machine with a bed would clearly help here, but what? Are cheaper jointers with HSS blades going to be given short shrift by a lot of teak? Should I only be looking at something with TCT blades? Can a jointer used carefully and with patience produce as good results as a thicknesser as well as of course as be used for edge work. I could afford to spend £400 on a machine that would help me out.
Hope the answers to these questions are obvious!

 

[Digit]

HSS knife will blunt more rapidly than TCT but can be sharpened to a better edge. Which ever you use, two sets are the minimum requirement and you can sharpen your own HSS knives quite readily.

Roy.

 

[woodbloke]

MattB wrote:

some have got rot that needs machining away

If the boards have some rot in them, it's highly likely that the timber is not teak as this timber, as far as I'm aware, doesn't rot. It's just about the most durable timber available and probably second only to greenheart. Working with teak is great (one of my favourite woods) but very frustrating at the same time as it will strip the edge of a plane blade in about 15 seconds. The way I would tackle is to use a deeply cambered woodie and take of a really deep and narrow shaving. This will remove all the crud from the surface and let you see what's underneath. Once you can see what it's like you can then decide what further action needs to be taken. If you need to put it thru' a P/T then one with TCT blades is essential - Rob

 

[OPJ]

I understand that HSS blades will also give a better quality finish, if that helps. Whatever you choose though, they're gonna need sharpening pretty soon after you start!

I agree with what Rob said about removing the crud first so you have a better idea of what's 'below the surface'. You might do less damage to your machines blades this way also.

 

[MattB]

Thanks for the responses. Yes it is definitely teak, from a carvel built steam boat built in 1903. The rot is where Rock Elm knees have been.

The way I would tackle is to use a deeply cambered woodie and take of a really deep and narrow shaving.

What is one of these?

And simply, can TCT knives be sharpened, or once they have lost an edge are they junk?

 

[Paul Chapman]

The way I would tackle is to use a deeply cambered woodie and take of a really deep and narrow shaving.

What is one of these?

Matt,

The plane Rob was referring to was a wooden plane about the size of a jack plane (or slightly larger) with a heavily cambered, thick blade. This would be ideal for quickly removing the crud from your boards and getting them to a presentable state before using a conventional plane or planing machine.

If you don't have a wooden jack, then the next best would be to grind and hone a spare blade for your #6 with a heavy camber, rather like this

I sometimes use an old Record #7 for this sort of thing. Here it is in use on some oak that was very hard and with the heavily cambered blade I was able to remove quite thick shavings without too much effort

The point about a heavily cambered blade is that you are only using the central portion of the blade and it therefore offers little resistance compared with a wide blade honed straight. It is therefore possible to take off thick shavings from very hard wood with little effort.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[iajon69]

can TCT knives be sharpened, or once they have lost an edge are they junk?

The TCT cutters used on the DW26500K are pretty much useless after they've gone blunt but larger TCT planer blades can be re-sharpened but need to be sharpened using a diamond grinding wheel - any local sharpening company should be able to do the work. TCT blades are usually more expensive to have sharpened than HSS.

Ian

 

[Nigel]

I have resurfaced a fair amount of reclaimed teak and found that TCT blades for my planner thicknesser are a must, my Electra Beckum machine requires additional blade holders to hold the TCT blades which came to over £100,
The other thing I do before planning is to go over the wood with a belt sander to remove non wood crud,
As has been mentioned the blades do not offer a good finish on other woods probably due to the edge wearing but they remain good for the teak so I swap them when required,

Cheers Nigel

 

[MattB]

Following Rob and Pauls advice, I've been prompted to dig out an old 22" ?fore plane given to me a few years ago that I have never paid much attention too. It needs some restoration, but nothing too drastic (as long as I am right in thinking that although the sole has a couple of cracks it is essentially sound, and is now flat and should be OK?). The mouth is not particularly worn, and the cheeks are undamaged. Ive been following the adivce of Michael Dunbar in Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools, and ground the cutter to about an 8" radius. Ill let you know how I get on.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Yes, teak will blunt your blades fast I need to sharpen my HSS ones after cleaning up some teak but it is possible to do your self.
What are you going to make out of your teak? I made a table.

Pete

 

[MattB]

Nice table, nice teak. From what I have seen of ours so far, it is generally unfigured with a very even grain, and without a knot to be seen.

What are you going to make out of your teak?

The lining and fitting of a fine heavy weight narrowboat built as a remake of two particular late 1950s boats. We have started with deck planks, and will move onto lining around heavy gunmetal portholes and doors frames and framing.

Matt

 

[MattB]

Well, a weekend with a Triton 2000 workcentre, a 7.5" makita saw, the dewalt planer, the Triton planer attachment and the high fence/jig recommended by Triton, and we have made really good progress on the teak. The planer attachment and jig enables 6" planks to be effectively thicknessed by using 2 passes end to end, and it worked well. Bowed planks could be flattened by planing the convex face first. The TCT blades on the planer seem to have held out well so far.

 

[MattB]

Rot in the teak. In the process of rebating some planks that otherwise appeared good, we have found a small patch of rot. This is just a little worrying. The planks had been fixed to the steam boat's frames using copper nails at approx 18" centres. The fixing holes had then been plugged so the outside of the boat was smooth and flush. Every plank has multiple holes that now need drilling and plugging.

The rot we have found appears differently. On the original surfaces of the planks, where the frames have been, there is sometimes a thin layer of light fawny coloured rot that runs along the grain, penetrates to perhaps 3mm max and can usually be machined off.

The rot within the planks is much darker - a dark brown - and soft and powdery in discrete areas. There is a very sharp interface between what is rotten and what is sound - and we are only talking about small areas of rot, but enough to be of concern.

If the teak is now in dry stable conditions, will the rot that has been able to develop (as the timber has been stacked in the open with no cover for many years) stop? Or once it has started, will it persist? I am worried that we will be inadvertently plugging up holes in planks that appear sound but that have rot within not visible on the outside. One option might be to hole saw each fixing hole and look at the core of wood coming out to check for problems.

I understand that using a wood preserver on teak is a waste as the teak simply wont take a preserver due to its oiliness etc. But would a good quality rot killer be of use?

Any advice very gratefully received. I could post some photos to help show the problem.

 

[woodbloke]

Matt - I would'nt use any timber with rot in it, I would cut it out and plan jobs accordingly around what remains - Rob

 

[MattB]

I'm sure that is the best policy - the problem with this stuff is knowing if the rot is there, as we have machined it up and all surfaces appear sound.

Today we've ripped and cross-cut a number of planks through the counter-bored holes to assess any rot and they have so far been clean and not deteriorating at all. I think we may have just been a bit unlucky with the piece that we were rebating. It is has to be said that this particular plank felt slightly less dense than the others.

If it was a case of just having access to a couple of planks of the teak, and rot were a possibility then yes perhaps I would just walk away - but here we are talking about many cubes of what was when it was new in 1903 high quality teak and it's too nice to turn down...

Thanks

 

[MattB]

Here is some of the teak to be used as deck planks, now oiled with Danish oil and i've also pasted an image of one of the porthole liners on the finishing forum. We are really pleased with how the teak has come up - it has taken a lot of work, and I guess no professional would have the time to give to using 100 year old wood, but it is OK for us. The plugged fixing holes are visible.