Teak

Scientific name:
Tectona grandis L. F.
Geographic origin:
Southeast Asia, India, Camboya and Vietnam. Introduced in the tropical regions of western America.
  • Sapwood: Yellowish white colour to greyish colour.
  • Heartwood: from yellowish brown to dark brown with frequent dark grey shades.
  • Fiber: Straight.
  • Grain: medium size to rough.
  • Defects: ''''greasy wood'''' with silica and chalky deposits
     
Teca
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Impregnabilidad Propiedades mecanicas Mecanizacion logo Propiedades fisicas logo
Capacity of being impregnated
  • Sapwood: Low capacity of being impregnated
  • Heartwood: No capable of being impregnated
Mechanical properties
  • Resistance to static flexion 1,020 kg/cm3
  • Elasticity module 110,000 kg/cm3
  • Resistance to compression 630 kg/cm3
Mechanization
  • Sawing process: problems arise from the high silica content that wears away tools very fast and produces allergy to workers.
  • Drying process: From low to very low speed. Little risk of deformation and crack formation.
  • Planing process: Ordinary difficulties due to the hardness. Good bending
  • Gluing process: Important difficulties due to its oleoresins content, above all when using alkaline glues.
  • Nailing and screwing process: Pre-drilling is required
  • Finish: Diffciulties described in the gluing process
Physical properties
  • Apparent density at 12% humidity 0.69 kg/m3 semiheavy to heavy wood Density 450kg/m3
  • Dimensional stability
  • Volumetric contraction coefficient 0.33 % highly stable wood.
  •  Relation between contractions 1.88 tendency to deformity
  • Hardness (Chaláis-Meudon) 4.1 semi-hardwood
Observations
  • A destacar-ne l'alta durabilitat. Molt bona resistència a la humitat ia l'atac de fongs i insectes. És difícil trobar fustes que ofereixin una durabilitat similar sent tan lleugeres, el més habitual és que siguin molt més denses.
  • Té un preu molt elevat. Tot i que les explotacions són cada vegada més nombroses la demanda ha crescut en més proporció elevant el seu preu. Hi ha explotacions a Àfrica i Amèrica Central i del Sud. Però aquesta fusta no aconsegueix les propietats de la teca original de Birmània.