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Mahogany or Teak?

Started by Sawyerfortyish, April 30, 2004, 08:22:38 PM

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Sawyerfortyish

Had a guy drop off a beam today an 8x10. It came from a shipping skid from south America. He claims to have a lot of beams and would like me to saw them into boards. Will the sawdust from these type of woods( since all my sawdust goes to horse farms) have any affect like say walnut does to horses? How can I tell weather I'm sawing Teak or Mahogany? What is the differance between them? I have seen Mahogany but not enough to know the differance. Is there somewhere I can go online to see a picture of these woods to try to find out?

shopteacher

I'm not real familiar with either one of those woods as we don't get much imports.  With that in mind I always found mahogany to be reddish in color and teak to be a rather olive brown color. Teak is very abrasive on cutting edges as it grows so fast it sucks silica up with its growth. I have a piece of mahogany that is very dense and heavy as is teak. Luaun is I believe a relative of mahogany and used a good bit in shipping crates. It's a lot lighter and a tan to reddish brown color open grained material.
  Don't know it that will help any and can't say about the sawdust as being harmful. Good luck with your sawing.
Link to woodsampler  http://www.woodworking.org/WC/woodsampler.html
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Sawyerfortyish

Thanks shopteacher I knew someone could tell me something. It looks like it's Mahogany. I'll know more monday it's going on the mill I want to see what it looks like under all that dirt it's coverd with

woodbeard

If it's from South America, it is probably not teak. Teak is from Asia and is so heavy, the trees are girdled ( bark cut to kill the tree ) a year before hauling them out. The skidders they use have two tusks and a trunk.
It is likely to be some unrecognizable, unmarketable species of "trash" wood. But that doesn't mean it's junk. In fact it may turn out to be quite nice. Only a small percentage of the immense variety of tropical species ever make it on the market and get seen by us up here. Post a pic when you can.
Just to be on the safe side, I would definitely keep the dust away from the horses. You may even find you want to wear a mask yourself.

Stan

Don't luan come from the phillypines?  ???
I may have been born on a turnip truck, but I didn't just fall off.

crtreedude

Teak is grown in Central America - I should know, I have 4 about 2,400 planted from last year and planting another 10,000 this year. I also have about 320 mahogany planted.  This year I plan on planting 2,000 more.  ;D

Now, there is mahogany, and there is mahogany. True mahogany will be slightly reddish and about as dense as teak. Neither is considered a hardwood, but a semi-hard.

I suspect it is mahogany, but might not be genuine mahogany. By the way, a common practice is to stain gmelina like mahogany and sell it to the unsuspecting as mahogany - and people by it. gmelina is used for pallets. >:(

Both teak and mahogany (along with several other tropical woods) have an interesting characteristic, they are very stable. I am told you can actually make furniture from green mahogany and it will not warp. Never tried it myself, but it is an interesting idea.

By the way, true mahogany is endangered - make sure you know where the wood is coming from, it might be poached and the person is just telling you that it is salvaged.   :(
So, how did I end up here anyway?

crtreedude

Hey sawyer40,

I see that you are in NJ like I am right now. If you really want to know, I could probably arrange to drive up and see them and tell you.

Fred
So, how did I end up here anyway?

Fla._Deadheader

  A LOT of Teak is used in shipping cradles. At the Port of Elizabeth, in NJ, they throw the stuff into a dumpster and haul it to the dump.

  It IS a very abrasive wood, full of sand ::) ::)
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Sawyerfortyish

To give an update on this I scanned the beam with a metal detector and one of the lag bolts they used to bolt the skid togeather is broken off about 2" below the surface. So i'm waiting to talk to the man that brought it to me to see what to do.
It.s going to be a while tho he had to take an emergency flight to Guatemala and this is another story but worth hearing. His dad went sailfish fishing on a boat and hooked into a swordfish. After fighting it for over 2 hrs he handed the pole the someone else and steped back from the side rail to rest.  All of the sudden there was a lot of slack in the line. The fish ran towards the boat jumped out of the water over the side of the boat stabbing this man in the ribs breaking 2 ribs and punctureing his lung  :o . He's now in the hospital in Guatemala and his son went down to be with him .

shopteacher

Man talk about bad luck.............Don't want none of his karma. :o
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Stan

There was an older gentleman on a long range boat out of San Diego who had a run in with a "green" Wahoo. Green meaning it wasn't played out yet. A wahoo is a super fast version of the barracuda that can travel up to 50 mph. They weigh around 75 pounds on average, have two serrated teeth, one fills the uppre jaw and the other the lower. His came aboard and landed mouth first on one of his thighs, removing several pounds of meat. Now this boat was 100 miles from the lower end of the Baja peninsula. or a full thousand from San Diego. The U.S. Coasties dispatched a chopper which was refueld a couple of time each way. The victum lived, but nobody knows if he's still fishin'.  : :o
I may have been born on a turnip truck, but I didn't just fall off.

Fla._Deadheader

  A few years back, 2 guys went fishing off Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. One of them landed a large Mako Shark, about 400 pounds. They could not get it into the boat, so, it was tied alongside and towed toward the dock. The guy that caught the Shark was sitting on the Gunwale, admiring his prize, when, it came to life and bit his back side. It took his wallet and both layers of shorts and shorts. Only nicked the skin ::) ::)

  Ed and I were out Sailfishing one time. A guy Ed knew came on the radio, out of breath and VERY excited.

  Seems that he caught a Smaller Marlin, I think, might have been a shark??? Ennyhoo, the crazy thing charged the boat and actually jumped into it. It trashed every bit of fishing gear AND the console. Guy was jumping around in the boat ahead of the thrashing fish. Finally, the fish got back overboard. The guy had to tie an oar to his outboard, like a Tiller handle and run it back to the dock.

  And, Y'all are worried about them water lizards. ::) ::) ;D :D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Sawyerfortyish

I'll guess I'll stick to those little 5" native brook trout. It's better to eat than be eaten!!!

DanG

That's a bummer about the guy getting gored by the swordfish! :o :o  Those big fish are dangerous in the boat!

Once, a buddy and me were fishing for sea trout in Escambia Bay, near Pensacola. We got into a school of Ladyfish, which is a cousin to the Tarpon, only smaller.  They ain't edible, but when they're feeding, you catch one on every cast, and they put up a heck of a fight. Anyway, a couple of guys saw us and joined the action in their bass boat.  The guy in front flung a big topwater plug with about 4 treble hooks out there, and hooked about a five pound ladyfish. The crazy thing charged the boat, and launched itself straight at the guy's face, with all them hooks leading the way! :o :o :o  He was up on one of them pedestal seats, like them bass fellas like to perch on, so when he tried to dodge the fish, he landed right in the drink!  I really felt bad for laughing at the guy, but I just couldn't help myself. His buddy was laughing so hard, he couldn't even help him back in the boat! The pore guy had to swim around to the back and shinny up the motor! He weren't happy about it, but I'm sure it's one of his favorite tales, by now. :)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

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