General Woodworking

[Frank Rothmann]

Hi

I have purchased several pieces of 1/2" thick Teak from Rockler. I am concerned about the efficacy of gluing Teak. The wood doesn't feel oily, but I don't want to screw up my project by not using the proper techniques.

I generally use Titebond III for glue joints, and Deft brushing lacquer as the final finish.

The joints I would be glueing are in the end grain of the wood. Would simply rubbing the glue areas with MEK or lacquer thinner be sufficient?

How about the surfaces receiving the lacquer finish?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[MSWOODcraft]

A quick rubdown with acetone takes care of things.   Let it evaporate and then glue away.

[Frank Rothmann]

Matt, thank you sir.

[knotscott]

Frank - I believe Matt has the right answer for treating the surface, but I did want to warn that teak is a fairly abrasive wood and will dull your saw blades faster than most wood.  It might be worth getting a decent inexpensive sacrificial blade or something with a triple chip grind if you'll be cutting a lot of it.  Otherwise just be sure to clean your blade up often, and/or look to have it sharpened after if the blade is "borderline" due for sharpening anyway. 

[Frank Rothmann]

Hi Scott.

I do not have a lot of Teak to machine, but appreciate your suggestion.

However a"decent, inexpensive" blade seems to be an oxymoron, wouldn't you agree? LOL

Thanks !

[Howard Acheson]

>>>  The joints I would be glueing are in the end grain of the wood.

I don't know what you mean by this.  Gluing end grain is never a very strong joint.  Can you provide a little more info about your project and what you are doing.

The best way to deal with the oiliness of teak is to glue the surface within an hour or two of machining.  The oil comes to the surface over a period of 6-12 hours.  If you glue joints within a couple of hours of machining you will get the strongest joints.  If you wipe down with acetone or lacquer thinner be sure to wipe and then dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.  Just wiping with a chemical will just spread the oil around, not remove it.

Finally, yes, teak is harder on tools than some other woods.  However, if you are using carbide tooling you will not significantly dull your tools much .  In the shop I was involved with we did lots of work for nearby yacht builders.  We cut teak all the time and did not have to get our blades sharpened much more frequently.  High speed tooling like router bits were more suseptable to faster dulling.

[MSWOODcraft]

OOh... Howie's got a distinctly good point.  Sorry: I missed that this was a butt joint.