Teak outdoor furniture

[Nathan Talbert]

I would like to build some teak outdoor furniture; Adirondack chairs to be specific. Would a jigsaw and a router be adequate for this? I would use a Bosch barrel grip jigsaw with brand new Bosch blades, and a Porter-Cable router mounted on a router table, using a template screwed to the bottom side of the workpiece.

I have a few concerns. One is, is teak too hard to cut with a jigsaw even with a sharp blade? Second is, I wouldn't want to see the screw holes from the template in the back slats. How could I avoid this? Another questions is what horsepower router should i get?

Any thoughts or suggestions about this? Thanks in advance :)

[Paul Atkins]

Jig saw with a good blade should be OK. Use double stick tape to stick your template to the wood. Teak is a bit oily and you might have to use more tape than you would use on something 'dryer'. Another way is to put the screws in the place where the cross braces will be and then they will be covered.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Your jigsaw should work fine, though you may find that with teak the blades dull a bit quicker than you would expect. Any router should do fine, though using carbide router bits will make them last longer in the teak than HSS. What I have done with templates is use both double stick tape and screws. Use the screws where you can, ie where they will be covered, and the tape on, say, the other end where you don't want to see screw holes.

Doc

[Peter Quinn]

You might look into carbide tipped jig saw blades. Festool makes them, they are not cheap, they fit the bosch, teak eats blades. I don't know when teak got the undeserved reputation for being hard and heavy. It is neither. It cuts like butter and takes a fingernail impression easily. The silica in it dulls knives like cutting sand paper, not its density or hardness. It is quite durable and beautiful IMO, but neither particularly hard nor heavy for a hard wood. Certainly nothing like IPE or cumaru.

[Tom Godley]

Not to be a downer -- but have you priced real teak ?

I bought very good teak furniture years ago -- because I liked the looks -- it was such a pain. It was a lot of work and it always needed more -- I was happy when it went away -- like the teak on my boat!!

The painted chairs are much less cost and work - and you can change the color.

[Howard Acheson]

The issue is not the initial sharpness of blade but the fact that teak contains a silica which is very hard and abrasive. The "sharpness" of a non-carbide tool will be quickly deteriorated.

[Dave Cav]

Not to be a downer -- but have you priced real teak ?


Yeah, what Tom said. Unless you have already sourced the teak and are prepared to pay for it, I think you'll be shocked at the price. The best I have been able to do lately is about $25/bf wholesale.

As for the tool issue, yes, teak is hard on tools, but jig saw blades and router bits are essentially disposable anyway, so you shouldn't have any problems. Carbide tooling handles teak just fine.

[John Peterson]

I too was thinking about Teak, but the silica is what gets me to say "nevermind". Although it isnt the cheapest thing in the world, my price from my yard arent too bad:

4/4x4 $5 lineal foot
4/4x6 $7.50
4/4x8 $10.00
4/4x10 $12.50
4/4x12 $15.00

Like I said not the cheapest but....

[scott vroom]

I too was thinking about Teak, but the silica is what gets me to say "nevermind". Although it isnt the cheapest thing in the world, my price from my yard arent too bad:

4/4x4 $5 lineal foot
4/4x6 $7.50
4/4x8 $10.00
4/4x10 $12.50
4/4x12 $15.00

Like I said not the cheapest but....


$15/bd ft is really cheap for teak. My local hardware supplier sells "shorts" (up to 60") for $20/bf....and I thought that was a deal.

[Tony Bilello]

4/4x12 $15.00....

$15/ Bd ft sounds way too cheap. Be aware that price is usually commensurate with quality in any wood not just teak. Generally speaking, the good stuff will not float. The less expensive stuff is closer to the sapwood and dont have the qualities that most people look for in teak. I see people all of the time with the less expensive stuff at a 'good' price and think they got a deal. This is not to say that you cant get the good stuff for $15/bd ft. but I'm thinking that the hardwood lumber yards are paying that much wholesale.