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Need a small piece of Teak

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Bermuda 
#1 ·
Hello,

I have a small old wooden sailboat with plenty of beautiful teak on it. My tiller recently broke and I was forced to quickly whittle down a pine stake found in a nearby construction yard to save the day of sailing. I would like to get a piece of teak and replace the pine properly, but I''m having trouble finding just a small piece of it. I really don''t want to spend $50 on a plank that is 6 times more material than I''ll use. Perhaps someone here can offer some suggestions as to where to get a small piece of teak, about 1" x 2" x 36". Are there any shipbuilders in Los Angeles that I could ask for some remnants? Any other ideas of where to get the teak?

Thanks,
Dan
 
#2 ·
Assuming your tiller is straight (or you don''t want to recreate the existing curve), and your 1" dimension is the actual rather than nominal thickness, then a two-piece lamination of store-bought 1/2" material would be ideal. Finding 5/4 (what a retailer calls net 1" thickness) boards only 3'' long is likely to be tough, unless you actually do find someone with scraps.

In Santa Ana (30min. S. of LA) there''s Austin Hardwoods which has a decent supply of misc. hardwoods milled to 1/2" thickness. There may be others closer to you, like maybe Saroyan, I''m not sure.

If you decide to laminate teak, use either resorcinol and lots of clamps, or one of the polyurethane glues (Gorilla Glue...), and wipe the surfaces with acetone before gluing, to remove surface oils. Still use plenty of clamps with the Gorilla Glue, but not as many as are needed for the resorcinol.

Lastly, most tillers are mahogany, which accepts finish better than teak and is stronger for its weight, as well as being easier to laminate.

Best,
-Chad
 
#3 ·
For a laminated tiller, the pros at H&L Marine woodwork (who seem to supply most boating supply retailers with standard model tillers for popular boats, and will do custom jobs as well) use a combination of ash and mahogany (ash is what they make baseball bats out of; very strong and resistant to bending). A laminated tiller won''t match your brightwork, but it will have a distinctive and functional look to it. Plus, as Chad points out, it will be less likely to break on you when you''re overpowered.

Allen Flanigan

H&L is in Rancho Dominguez.
 
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