Thread: Alternative to Teak?

Originally Posted by Carry Pine

Is there an Aussie alternative to teak for outdoor furniture? American oak appears in the American magazines, but do we have anything here that will not need oiling every 2 weeks?

Carry Pine

Heaps!!
Turpentine, tallowood, cypress pine ummm, okay maybe not heaps...

Cheers
Michael

I don't think there is an easy solution for preserving the appearance of any out door furniture. I especially bought Tallowood for railings for an exterior patio. I bought cheap treated HW garden post for the posts. Despite sanding and using good quality oil the rails at least 3 times in the first 12 months they never looked good. At the end of 3 years or so I have given up and the post look just a good as the railing..

I have been told by 'experts' in the local hardware store that it depends on the brand/product if you want timber to look good in the hot Australian summers.

I know Paper Bark is good out doors.It's used for rails in cattle yards on Cape York ( first hand knowledge as my brother in law owns a cattle property up there.I made some furniture with it years ago.Hard to get now as its in the water ways and your no longer able to cut it. You may find a mill up there able to get some for you.Its a very light colour and nice to work.

Have you considered timbers such as celery top pine or white beech,both timbers have been used in Oz as decking timber (at least) on boats for a long time. The elements they face are harsh to say the least
ps; teak is a world favourite decking timber on boats as you're probably well aware.

Thanks Huon,

Thought you were going to recommend the real Huon when I read the post.
Celery top pine is one of my favourites. Probably give that a go.

Graham

Crow's ash or Australian Teak, depending on which state you are from is a very stable and strong timber for outdoor use, also used a lot in boat building.

Can be a bit of a bugger on tools and glue, but finishes very nicely.

Please excuse my impertinence pineforyou but cruzi could you elaborate more on crows ash as a boat building timber, is it used above the waterline or below,can it be steambent, is it a dense(heavy) timber?

As far as I can find it was used a lot for decking, so whilst I could not find a reference on if it could be steam bent, boat decking would seem to need it as a pre-requisite.

It is a very waxy dense timber somewhere close to red gum in density. The durability and strength classes are the same as jarrah.

Whilst it is a relative of Queensland maple it's a very different timber, Flindersia Australis

Its a great stable timber for outdoor use as well as great drawer runners, bench tops and guides for thin blades in bandsaws.

To glue it, you need to use white acetone rags and wipe the to be glued surfaces repeatedly until a rag remains clean, then use an epoxy.