I'm about to run into some teak (I think)

Teak, especially old teak, is hard to positively ID from photos. It does have a very distinctive smell when cut however and if you’ve ever smelled it you will always remember it when you smell it again.
It looks like this could be teak but as I said… hard to tell. If it is it’s a great score. The stuff is like gold, even was back when I was buying lots of it in the eighties.

It looks like the teak I saw at the lumber yard last week.
Very expensive stuff.

Thanks, guys. Teak it is (even if it’s not). :-)

This would make a nice dining table top, I think, except for the holes. Any ideas on how to finish this? I’m not sure it needs any finishing at all. Also, if it does become a dining table, what would be a good way to fill the holes?

And this stuff does have a very distinctive smell when cut, but I don’t have a baseline to compare it. But it is unique.

Great haul Brian. Your project looks very good and it is so appropriate since it has a history and a lot of character after having been out in the weather so long. I understand that teak is pretty hard on tools, but that’s not such a big deal nowadays. I have some teak from an old table I got from my DIL’s mom. I really should use it for something, it’s been sitting in my shop loft for many years now.

Brian, if you’ve been told it’s teak and it has a distinctive smell you’ve never experienced before (kind of spicy?) then I’ll bet it is.

No, I was not told what it was. But it’s teak because I want to believe that it’s teak. ;-)

And the smell is very spicy. A little bit like allspice/nutmeg? Definitely distinct.

Here’s a pic of my haul. 8 boards over 8’ each except one 7 footer. Not quite 60 or 70 board feet like I thought before, but still not a bad haul. It’s enough for a table top.

I had a block about 10 years ago. I started carving it like the old crafts men did before they built an actual boat they would do a scale model, usually it was only 1/2 of the hull, doing only one side. I wanted to do the whole hull, and maybe someday dig out the inside and make it a sailing model. It’s as hard as stone, and kind of stinks like allspice.

Yep, allspice. That’s the smell. Now I’m totally convinced it’s teak. I’ve been meaning to make a couple of zc inserts. Maybe one of these short cutoffs I have would be good for that. It’s hard as a rock.

Yup, took me forever to carve it, watch for resin build up on your saw blades Brian.

Sorry to not agree. But it does not look like teak to me. The first photo looks a lot like Ekki. And from the sound of the funky smell and how hard and heavy it is I think it might be Ekki. I got a few boards of it and it is some very challenging wood to work with. But well worth the effort. An African hardwood used often for RR ties or bridge timbers as it will last forever. Just my thoughts. It looks like a great score on lumber.
Cheers

Thanks for the info. I’ll start googling it.

I just found this: http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/ekki/

It seems to be a perfect match (color, grain, use – it is reclaimed pier decking) except for odor. The database says no specific odor but there is a smell similar to allspice when cutting it.