I stumbled upon Merbau edging planks at Bunnings recently and bought a couple of planks 140mm wide and 7mm thick that I intend to slice up and use to replace missing teak trim. Finished in clear I reckon it would look as good as teak. Ridiculously cheap. The ad is for 69mm wide with finger joints. The stuff I bought was full length.

www.bunnings.com.au/69-x-7mm-5-7m-edging-merbau-fj-kd_p0064274?gclid=CjwKCAiAsNKQBhAPEiwAB-I5zdO8qF2Gee8uGkXCESxxV2mnJnw0IU5QXpo9GtVmiExRBGkKViEaWxoCZ3AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It will bleed like a wounded beast if the rain gets on it, at least until it seals up and goes grey, it takes a few months.
the big green shed has laminated oakume boards good for anyone doing a fit out

Woko you sound wise on the subject. What timber should I use for a storm board that won't warp? I made a very nice one from 3 ply and varnished it, but it warped in no time.

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woko said..
It will bleed like a wounded beast if the rain gets on it, at least until it seals up and goes grey, it takes a few months.
the big green shed has laminated oakume boards good for anyone doing a fit out

I have used it onboard for a couple of tapered mounting blocks and some trim for a cockpit table, well sealed with everdure and multiple coats of varnish, no problem to date but not in the weather 24/7.

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woko said..
It will bleed like a wounded beast if the rain gets on it, at least until it seals up and goes grey, it takes a few months.
the big green shed has laminated oakume boards good for anyone doing a fit out

It's for interior trim and will be sealed with flooring clear. Hopefully won't see any rain. It appealed because it's one of the few timbers that dark that's available 7mm thick.

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Trek said..
Woko you sound wise on the subject. What timber should I use for a storm board that won't warp? I made a very nice one from 3 ply and varnished it, but it warped in no time.

I'll jump in here and suggest marine Birchwood ply. Mostly comes from Russia so you may have to be quick.

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Trek said..
Woko you sound wise on the subject. What timber should I use for a storm board that won't warp? I made a very nice one from 3 ply and varnished it, but it warped in no time.

Trek how thick is the storm board ? Quality ply is very stable, ply from the big green shed unfortunately is not. The link r13 gave us for brunzel ? Would be a go to if around Sydney. My storm board is hoop ply pine & has been in service for a decade, gaboon ply is lighter if your race orientated but is softer. Maybe consider aluminium sheet ?

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Ramona said..

woko said..
It will bleed like a wounded beast if the rain gets on it, at least until it seals up and goes grey, it takes a few months.
the big green shed has laminated oakume boards good for anyone doing a fit out

It's for interior trim and will be sealed with flooring clear. Hopefully won't see any rain. It appealed because it's one of the few timbers that dark that's available 7mm thick.

It's nuts that they can sell merbau for garden edging ! Given the reasonable species of timber available from that particular outlet at present either reforestation projects are coming to fruition or could it be the result of a belts and roads job

Ramona,

I'm starting to get to know the timbers from a couple of projects on my boat.

I used Spotted Gum for the engine bay floor, but in a different context to your application.

Merbau has natural oils that may or may not bleed. The oils will make it difficult to glue or varnish the timber. I set up a couple of Merbau planks (from Hammerbarn/the Big Green Shed) as seats in the pushpit and varnished them with outdoor varnish. A couple of years later, and the varnish has all but flaked off.

Classical Burmese Teak, the stuff they previously used for shipbuilding, is impossible to find. There are no Teak trees left in (what was) Burma.

I found out today that you can get Vitex, which is a New Guinea Teak, e.g. narangbatimbers.com.au/?s=vitex&post_type=product&type_aws=true. It might be worth finding some in your part of the world.

I'm not confident in the quality of the stuff from Hammerbarn, especially when it classifies a whole bunch of timbers as generic "hardwood". However, it is cheap.

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Achernar said..
Ramona,

I'm starting to get to know the timbers from a couple of projects on my boat.

I used Spotted Gum for the engine bay floor, but in a different context to your application.

Merbau has natural oils that may or may not bleed. The oils will make it difficult to glue or varnish the timber. I set up a couple of Merbau planks (from Hammerbarn/the Big Green Shed) as seats in the pushpit and varnished them with outdoor varnish. A couple of years later, and the varnish has all but flaked off.

Classical Burmese Teak, the stuff they previously used for shipbuilding, is impossible to find. There are no Teak trees left in (what was) Burma.

I found out today that you can get Vitex, which is a New Guinea Teak, e.g. narangbatimbers.com.au/?s=vitex&post_type=product&type_aws=true. It might be worth finding some in your part of the world.

I'm not confident in the quality of the stuff from Hammerbarn, especially when it classifies a whole bunch of timbers as generic "hardwood". However, it is cheap.

I'm not sure where you get your information from, but I have used merbau as trim on the seatback on a seat in the weather 24/7, the epoxy glue used on it has held up for multiple years, (cant remember exactly) and the varnish needs a re-coat every 18 months or so, as does any varnish exposed to the elements full time. I also have used it for internal pieces, (as Remona has said he plans to do) and properly prepared and varnished is fine and I expect it to remain so for many years.

Vitex that is available in Australia is mostly sourced from the Solomon's, most likely in a non sustainable way. Its a cheap hardwood (by hardwood standards) not related to real teak in any way, New Guinea Teak is just a marketing name.

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cammd said..
Vitex that is available in Australia is mostly sourced from the Solomon's, most likely in a non sustainable way. Its a cheap hardwood (by hardwood standards) not related to real teak in any way, New Guinea Teak is just a marketing name.

Years ago we used a timber called Iroko as a teak substitute. Not sure if its still around. Also Kalantis or Philippine Cedar was an alternative to Australian Cedar.

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UncleBob said..

Achernar said..
Ramona,

I'm starting to get to know the timbers from a couple of projects on my boat.

I used Spotted Gum for the engine bay floor, but in a different context to your application.

Merbau has natural oils that may or may not bleed. The oils will make it difficult to glue or varnish the timber. I set up a couple of Merbau planks (from Hammerbarn/the Big Green Shed) as seats in the pushpit and varnished them with outdoor varnish. A couple of years later, and the varnish has all but flaked off.

Classical Burmese Teak, the stuff they previously used for shipbuilding, is impossible to find. There are no Teak trees left in (what was) Burma.

I found out today that you can get Vitex, which is a New Guinea Teak, e.g. narangbatimbers.com.au/?s=vitex&post_type=product&type_aws=true. It might be worth finding some in your part of the world.

I'm not confident in the quality of the stuff from Hammerbarn, especially when it classifies a whole bunch of timbers as generic "hardwood". However, it is cheap.

I'm not sure where you get your information from, but I have used merbau as trim on the seatback on a seat in the weather 24/7, the epoxy glue used on it has held up for multiple years, (cant remember exactly) and the varnish needs a re-coat every 18 months or so, as does any varnish exposed to the elements full time. I also have used it for internal pieces, (as Remona has said he plans to do) and properly prepared and varnished is fine and I expect it to remain so for many years.

Information from my experience. However, I did apply the varnish with zero preparation (e.g. swabbing the timber with a solvent) before applying the varnish. I won't do that again.

If you get the reddish stuff marketed as merbau I guarantee it will bleed uncontrollably with any weather on it, 20 years ago we used to call it kwilla, made window frames out of it, first rain double story rendered wall looked like the blood room in a horror film, what a f...ing head ache ! A couple of years ago I got some " merbau decking red brown coloured after being seasoned for another year at least I ripped it down to size and used it on my Bimini frame and yes similar result, good news oxalic acid gets it off two pak paint better than what ever we used to try and get it off the cement render. Now it's grey and sealed up no more blood, phew ! ps it epoxyed ok
pps the new BROWN stuff might be better

Near my office in my home there is a set of stairs I installed 34 years ago in Merbau. I put on floor clear at the time and probably 15 years ago gave it a recoat. Still looks the same. I'm using a different brand of floor clear in my yacht but I suspect it will last the same.

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troubadour said..

cammd said..
Vitex that is available in Australia is mostly sourced from the Solomon's, most likely in a non sustainable way. Its a cheap hardwood (by hardwood standards) not related to real teak in any way, New Guinea Teak is just a marketing name.

Years ago we used a timber called Iroko as a teak substitute. Not sure if its still around. Also Kalantis or Philippine Cedar was an alternative to Australian Cedar.

Iroko is an African Hardwood, never had much to do with it but I think its well regarded, I was involved in importing Sth Amercian hardwoods. Heavy hard stuff like the Purple Heart and Ipe. We called one of them Pacific Jarrah, its got about 20 different marketing names but the most common (overseas) is massa or massaranduba. Coped some flack (in the papers) off a W.A. forestry association threatening a lawsuit for using the name "Jarrah" they asserted it was a false advertising etc, my reply (in the papers) was to point out the same practice was being done by their own members by selling gum trees advertised as Oak ie Tassie Oak. That was the end of it.

Anyway point is marketing or common or trade names such as something teak or something cedar etc etc are whatever someone decides to call them for commercial purposes, been happening for hundreds of years. The scientific name is the only way to truly identify the species. If who ever is selling the wood can't tell you that then be careful buying it as it may be a poor substitute for the real thing.

The Iroko was very smelly to work with but not a pleasant smell like Teak

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cammd said..

selling gum trees advertised as Oak ie Tassie Oak.

I love Tassie oak and was a little dubious about this comment so I looked into it a little.. It turns out its worse than just calling eucalyptus 'Oak'. Two of the three trees called oak are also called Ash if they come from Victoria.

As for Merbau, the only precaution I take with it (for around the house, not on the boat) is to make sure it is dried. It goes from the forrest to the shops far too quick for it to be dried properly (even kilned dried).

That bit of info has come from several dedicated wood importers/retailers and not the Green shed employee (of which some would actually know, but the help and knowledge of the Shed is not what it use to be).