CONTRIBUTORS - WOOD WORKS
Titanic teak
Regular contributor Stephanie Dyer looks at the properties of teak wood , a hugely popular material the world over .
By Stephanie Dyer
Teak timber and furniture were imported into South Africa in great volumes in the past .
The aesthetic qualities , strength and durability of teak ( Tectona grandis ) make it hugely popular and it has been utilised globally for centuries in high-end furniture and ship building . Teak timber and furniture were imported into South Africa in great volumes in the past and evidence of this is still seen in many households as family heirlooms , gates of large estates and doors in government buildings .
The timber is still imported today , but on a smaller scale . Regarding global trade , India is both the largest importer of teak and the largest exporter of processed wood products from this species . Vietnam is also a major teak processing country , producing mainly outdoor furniture .
The genus name , Tectona , is from the Greek word ‘ tekton ’, which means carpenter . The specific epithet , ‘ grandis ’, means grand or large , referring to the large leaves . Teak is a hardwood and can be found in almost pure stands in a wide variety of soils with good drainage . The natural distribution of Tectona grandis is Myanmar , India , Indonesia and Thailand . Of these four countries , only Myanmar and Indonesia continue exporting unprocessed teak today ; India and Thailand now import teak logs . The name teak is often given to timbers that are not true teak and care should be taken to distinguish between such timbers and true teak .
Teak is available on the market as veneer and saw timber and has become very expensive , selling at a higher price than most imported timbers . Because of its commercial value , teak has been planted commercially for some time and many teak plantations exist today in warmer climates ( especially tropical Africa and tropical America ), producing large volumes of timber .
However , reports indicate that wood from naturally grown trees is still preferred by discriminating users . This is based on tradition and preference is for natural forest teak that has been matured with age . With the progress of teak plantations on experimental and commercial scale in many countries , the area of man-made teak forest is increasing annually and it is becoming important to take these plantations into account as part of the teak resource . Extensive research has gone into the genetic improvement , improving wood properties and shortening the rotation age of plantation teak .
62 FEB / MARCH 2017 //