Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

[cobbcfi]

I am wanting to get rid of my plastic battery and live well compartment covers and make some out of wood with handles. Which wood holds up the best in the elements other than teak. I heard "Yellow Pine" and "White Oak" were two good options. I am also going to build alot of other stuff for the boat so I would need a good amount of wood thats reletivley cheap and is easy to work with. If its strong enough I would also like to ditch my for deak fish box cover and make a new one out of wood the measures 3'W and 4'L...

Any thoughts?

 

[Skagit]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Mahogany is another widely used wood on boats. It doesn't have as much natural oil in it as teak, so it tends to weather faster. But it does look nice...

--Skagit out

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Some folks use and exotic hardwood import like Ipe. It's used for decking and other outside structures. It weathers nicely and is becoming more and more available. I believe it is used in marine applications too. It's very hard, naturally resinous and ages well. Might be worth looking into.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Why use something that will rot? If you want longevity and are willing to spend the $$$ for something better than teak, why not built it out of StarBoard?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Why use something that will rot? If you want longevity and are willing to spend the $$$ for something better than teak, why not built it out of StarBoard?

Agreed. I make stuff out of white 1/2" thick HDPE cutting boards all the time. It's just as durable (same stuff???) as StarBoard and easier to get.

 

[cobbcfi]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Isn't starboard white like plastic or doess it have a wood grain look?? I am looking to make all my custom panels the same high gloss as the fighting chars that I am going to build this winter.. I can afford teak but I am looking for something easier to work with..

 

[NESAR]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Mahogany is grate to work with I agree.

 

[tschmidty]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Some people actually like wood. All the suggestions here are fine. The pine and oak are terrible choices, will rot fairly easily. If you don't need strength, cedar will work also. And really anything will work as long as you seal it well with fiberglass resin.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Honestly, I would stick with the same type of wood on your different projects. I have teak on my boat, and ended up grabbing a piece of mahogony to do a section of the cabin door. I can see the difference in tone between the two woods. It looks good, and might not be noticeable when the wood is not side by side, but had I done it over, I would have used teak.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

White oak is actually very rot resistant. I have built a few exterior doors with it, and they hold up very well to the elements. The down side is, it's very dense and heavy (not deisrable on the boat). I'd stick with mahogony or teak. FYI, there are several different species of mahogony from all over the world. If you find you don't like the color of one, look for other variations. The grain structure is similar across most of them.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Another really nice wood for boat projects is African padauk. Should be a lot cheaper than teak and does not dull tools like teak.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Just another thought - not sure as I would use it on the boat, but probably the most rot resistant would be black locust. When you cut the stuff, sparks fly due to the high silica content in the wood. We've used it for fenceposts that sit in the ground forever.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Cypress, ceder or black locust

 

[Ned L]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Cedar would be light weight & very rot resistant, but it is very soft and will ding & mark easilly if in a place you are walking on it.
White oak (not red) is rot resitant, but heavy (as noted), it is also not very dimensionally stable which can be problematic in applications like this.
Mahogany would be my "other than teak' choice. Easy to work with, stable, rot resistant.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

No, StarBoard does not come with a wood grain. I didn't know that's what you were looking for. In that case, I would go with teak, mahgoany, or even red oak with a darker urethane finish.

 

[Grew 194]

Re: Whats the best wood to use other than teak?

Ash is a great wood to use thats what they make baseball bats out of