Oak with Teak Stain

[Liberty28]

Hey all,

New guy here so cut me some slack. I'm refitting a little 28-foot cutter and would like to trim out some shelves with oak that will match the teak in the boat. Does anyone have a recommendation for staining oak trim to look like teak. Thanks heaps!

Steve

[feetup]

Liberty

I guess one of the important questions would be the finish you intend to use. Oil? Varnish?
The reason this is important is that oak has radial 'rays' that are quite prominent, and these rays take penetrating stains rather poorly, leaving lighter cross grain streaks which are most evident in radially sawn boards, but will show up as flecks on plank sawn boards. If you are trying to make it look like teak the only hope will be a transparent stain in the varnish, after sealing with a non stained seal coat. Don't stain the varnish too darkly, and give it enough coats to get the color you want, then use normal varnish to build up after. If you are just trying to make it blend in with the teak than almost any wiping stain with an appropriate orange/brown color will do it. Minwax, or Flecko
I put some red cedar ceilings next to teak and holly and stained them to match with liquid stain added to the varnish. I got the stains from a company that sells musical instrument building supplies called Stewart MacDonald out of Ohio. WWW.Stewmac.com The stains, called "Color Tone Stains" come in many colors but the medium brown (5033) and vintage amber (5030) seem to give that teak color to my eye. A very little goes a long way.

Tim J

[Rachel]

Welcome to the forum, Liberty!

I was just web-perusing the Liberty 28 a couple of weeks ago, after a friend on another forum mentioned owning one. Neat boat :)

I live near the Chesapeake now, but I'm from Lake Superior country and lived there most of my life.

Rachel

[Quetzalsailor]

Might be easier to match Teak if you were to use a wood whose grain is more similar. Oak is pretty identifiable and tends to stain (if you rub the stain in) unevenly because of its contrasts between dense summer wood, ring porous spring wood and the very dense medulary rays. Other woods, like Mahogany and the mahogany look-alikes, Khaya, Luan, some Merantis, would likely take the staining with more success. Even some of the North American fruitwoods would do better.

Why not enjoy the contrast between Teak and Oak?

[Liberty28]

Thanks all. I might just paint the trim a color of some kind as an accent. I'm mostly just too cheap to buy teak, especially for interior wood since it's not exposed to the elements.

Rachel: I went to school at the University of Minnesota-Duluth back in the 70's. That was pre-global-warming when it was still cold up there. I guess now the lake is probably ice-free a couple weeks out of the year!! Ha! We sailed a boat from Key Largo, Florida up to the Chesapeake in 2005. Wonderful trip and a beautiful part of the East Coast!

Cheers,
Steve

[CharlieJ]

Look for Ipe. It comes very close to matching teak. I buy it as decking boards.

[Steve'O]

I'll second the Ipe recommendation. Looks very siilar but much cheaper than teak. It's a bear to work with though, you need to have sharp tools and be prepared to tap out the holes before you screw anything in. Some have reported dificulty in glueing too. I use biscuits at the joints and west epoxy and have not had any trouble

[David]

Hey all,

New guy here so cut me some slack. I'm refitting a little 28-foot cutter and would like to trim out some shelves with oak that will match the teak in the boat. Does anyone have a recommendation for staining oak trim to look like teak. Thanks heaps!

Steve

I would suggest using cherry, either stained or just varnished. It's about 6-something a bf as opposed to 24 something for teak and has a similar grain. I am using it in the interior of my Bristol.

Good luck,

David

[Rachel]

I went to school at the University of Minnesota-Duluth back in the 70's. That was pre-global-warming when it was still cold up there.

It was still darned cold in the 80's, and the tuition was more :D

R.