Jatoba as Teal Substitute
 

With the prices and scarcity of teak I am just wondering if anyone
here has tried using Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) as a substitute?
Or, how about Ipe (Sometimes called Brazilian walnut). Informed
comments appreciated.

Joe

Or, how about Iroko. I use it instead of teak on my Ingrid 38, for rail caps
and interior trim. It was $3.55/bf from EdenSaw, here is WA.

Here are a couple pictures of sections of the caprail and rudder cheeks.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/caprai~1.jpg

http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/windva~1.jpg

It is admittedly dark, compared to Burmese teak but I like it. It would be
lighter if I got the Cetal on before the surface darkened.

Iroko doesn't bend well and if you leave it to weather naturally, it doesn't
do as well as teak. Interior trim, that I haven't vanished or sealed yet,
continue to darken to almost a walnut color.

In this picture I show a teak door with Iroko trimmed frame.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/teakdr~1.jpg
The arched beam in the foreground is Iroko.


--
My experience and opinion, FWIW
--
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

This may or may not be of interest to you, depending on whether you're
looking for a substitute of teak for deck material or not.
The magazine "Dockside California Edition" had a good review article in
their March 2005 issue of alternative deck materials. I can't find the
article on their online archive, but I can probably email you a scan if
you need it.
The materials they review a flexiteek, lonseal, tek-dek, and
marinedeck 2000.
Cheers,
Teri
s/v Shadow Line

I don't understand why anyone would want an alternative to teak for decking.
Fake teak makes your boat look cheap. Fine to buy your wife a cubic zirconia
rather than a diamond...but your boat deserves the best. Wood other than
teak, sure.
Plastics that are being what they are, sure, but let's not confuse plastic
decks with a fine wood like teak.

...Ken

"slampoud" wrote in message
oups.com...
This may or may not be of interest to you, depending on whether you're
looking for a substitute of teak for deck material or not.
The magazine "Dockside California Edition" had a good review article in
their March 2005 issue of alternative deck materials. I can't find the
article on their online archive, but I can probably email you a scan if
you need it.
The materials they review a flexiteek, lonseal, tek-dek, and
marinedeck 2000.
Cheers,
Teri
s/v Shadow Line

Jatoba is a very attractive wood, but it is also very brittle and easily checks when routing or planing. It's a pain in the ass to work but it sure looks nice.
---Joel---

Ipe is very heavy (don't drop it over, it will go straight to the bottom),
is difficult to work, and provides really nasty splinters. But it is touted
to be more rot-resistant than CCA-treated lumber.

It is also pretty - I have some as edging on my kitchen sink. I'll let you
know how it does, in a few years. I have some scraps and used pallets of the
stuff and, when I can borrow a band-saw, plan to make some cleats and
"hardware".

Sal's Dad

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...
With the prices and scarcity of teak I am just wondering if anyone
here has tried using Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) as a substitute?
Or, how about Ipe (Sometimes called Brazilian walnut). Informed
comments appreciated.

Joe

Great pics! I particularly like the butterflies in your scarf joints.
The wood contrasts. What is it? Thanks.

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 09:18:28 -0700, "Steve" wrote:

Or, how about Iroko. I use it instead of teak on my Ingrid 38, for rail caps
and interior trim. It was $3.55/bf from EdenSaw, here is WA.

Here are a couple pictures of sections of the caprail and rudder cheeks.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/caprai~1.jpg

http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/windva~1.jpg

It is admittedly dark, compared to Burmese teak but I like it. It would be
lighter if I got the Cetal on before the surface darkened.

Iroko doesn't bend well and if you leave it to weather naturally, it doesn't
do as well as teak. Interior trim, that I haven't vanished or sealed yet,
continue to darken to almost a walnut color.

In this picture I show a teak door with Iroko trimmed frame.
http://www.hctc.com/~esteve/INGRID%20PICs/teakdr~1.jpg
The arched beam in the foreground is Iroko.


--
My experience and opinion, FWIW

Thanks for your thoughts but I am looking for another type of wood as
a substitute for teak. I have seen some of the plastic teak deck
replacements at boat shows and can't say that it was love at first
sight.

On 12 Apr 2005 12:37:21 -0700, "slampoud" wrote:

This may or may not be of interest to you, depending on whether you're
looking for a substitute of teak for deck material or not.
The magazine "Dockside California Edition" had a good review article in
their March 2005 issue of alternative deck materials. I can't find the
article on their online archive, but I can probably email you a scan if
you need it.
The materials they review a flexiteek, lonseal, tek-dek, and
marinedeck 2000.
Cheers,
Teri
s/v Shadow Line

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...
With the prices and scarcity of teak I am just wondering if anyone
here has tried using Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) as a substitute?
Or, how about Ipe (Sometimes called Brazilian walnut). Informed
comments appreciated.

Not informed until I became curious enough to look them up in a book:

Jatoba aka Courbaril aka Locust:

910kg/m3, Interlocked grain, very strong and hard, bends well, glues and
screws well, moderately durable but not the sapwood. small movement.

Used for boat planking, steam bending, turning, cabinetry, lock gates,

Ipe aka ironwood:

960-1200 kg/m3, very strong and hard and resistant to bending. Difficult to
work, very durable, small movement.

Used for bridge building, docks, exterior construction, joinery, cabinets.

Both of these timbers are much denser and harder than teak (610-690kg/m3).

Tim W

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message

The wood contrasts. What is it?


I call those "Bow Ties" and they are also Iroko. Just from a different
piece, of lighter grain color.


--
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

"ok" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:06:59 +0100, "Tim W"
wrote:


Jatoba aka Courbaril aka Locust:

Are you sure about this? I heard locust grows in Eastern Washington,
Wa state, usa. They used it for fence posts 60 years ago and it's
still good, they just flip it over and plant it for another 60. The
stuff I saw represented as Locust varnished to a honey blond and is
supposed to darken after exposure to sunlight. It didn't have much
personality at all but is supposed to be durable and strong.



World Woods in Colour, William A Lincoln, 1986:

Courbaril, Bot name - Hymenaea courbaril

Distribution - Central and South America, West Indies.

"The heartwood is salmon red to orange brown marked with dark brown and
russet brown streaks. The wood has a golden lustre"

It doesn't sound like what you are describing and doesn't grow in the US but
he doesn't list any other timber known as Locust.

Tim W

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 06:54:29 GMT, ok wrote:



"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
. ..
With the prices and scarcity of teak I am just wondering if anyone
here has tried using Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) as a substitute?
Or, how about Ipe (Sometimes called Brazilian walnut). Informed
comments appreciated.

Not informed until I became curious enough to look them up in a book:

Jatoba aka Courbaril aka Locust:

Are you sure about this? I heard locust grows in Eastern Washington,
Wa state, usa. They used it for fence posts 60 years ago and it's
still good, they just flip it over and plant it for another 60. The
stuff I saw represented as Locust varnished to a honey blond and is
supposed to darken after exposure to sunlight. It didn't have much
personality at all but is supposed to be durable and strong.



Jatoba is definitely a tropical hardwood and bears no resemblance to
locust. That's why I asked for informed comments.

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 06:54:29 GMT, ok wrote:

Jatoba is definitely a tropical hardwood and bears no resemblance to
locust. That's why I asked for informed comments.

Informed comments is what you got and what you might have learned is that
niether jatoba nor locust are words which reliably identify timbers. But
then if you really wanted reliable information you wouldn't have asked
complete strangers with time to waste like me would you?

Tim W

I used Ipe to rebuild the bowsprit on my Pearson 365. It's been on
about a year. So far so good. It's less splintery after it weathers.
Carbide tools are a must!!!

gordon