teak and holy darkins?

[SanDiegoChip]

Hi,
We were wondering if teak and holy sole turned darker over time? If so how much time? We are adding a teak and holy sole to a 32 year old sail boat. We do not expect it to match the existing teak but would like it to darken, the sooner the better. Were at Frost Hardwood Lumber Co. in San Diego looking at sheets of ½ plywood veneered with teak and holy. It was real light in color.

We also saw some ¼ plywood veneered with teak and holy and it was a darker color. We like the darker color. He said it was about 4-6 months old. That the ½ would darken up in a few months even if varnished.

Is this the way it works?


1/4 - 4-6 months old teak and holly (plywood + veneer)


1/2 new teak and holy (plywood + veneer)
Thanks
Chip

[Beersmith]

slap some varnish or other coating on that and it will definitely darken. It looks unfininshed.

[christyleigh]

Originally Posted by Beersmith

slap some varnish or other coating on that and it will definitely darken. It looks unfininshed.

Right. When I'm building something and I have a choice between a couple of pieces and I want a match I simply - Wet It - to see what it will look like when varnished.

The guy at the Lumber Co had it bass-ackwards. Sunlight, even diffused, Bleaches Everything. I've got about 20 pictures of my all teak interior ready to show.... but I don't think I have a single one with a closet door open That's when you see what I mean. Most of the 10 year old teak is now very light but open a door and look inside at the teak or just the back side of the door that has been varnished but not bleached by light and it's 10 shades darker - as it was originally from the factory.

[SanDiegoChip]

We have gotten out teak and holy sole in. We wanted to share with you the close to finishing of the project.
This 1/4 ply with teak veneer.
Here are a couple pics and videos of the project.









Chip

[deniseO30]

Chip, Varnish, the traditional kind will go dark. New types called urethane varnish don't darken much at all. You can experiment with stains and or stain in the finish to get it close to your existing sole but it's very time consuming.

[JimsCAL]

Thanks for the update. Looks great!!