Teak is known as the "king of thousands of trees", and it is also one of the world's famous precious wood species! In Myanmar and Indonesia, it is called "national treasure", and there is an old saying in Europe: "old teak is as expensive as gold". Why does it have such a high status? Let's take a look at its "resume" first!
1、 Teak's resume
Zheng He's sailing ships were all made of teak; The deck of Titanic is all paved with teak; The rowing and luxury yachts participating in the Olympic Games are made of teak; Thailand's "song of Manola" luxury cruise ship, whose hull is all built of teak; Built in 1849, Myanmar is the longest teak bridge in the world, with a length of 1.2 kilometers.
Jing'an Temple is one of the famous ancient temples in Shanghai. The main buildings are all made of Myanmar teak, which has been nearly 780 years.
HSBC, customs building, Peace Hotel, etc. almost all use teak as columns, handrails and floors. Although it has gone through a hundred years of vicissitudes, it is still intact.
Built in 1868 in the era of Rama V, the Golden Teak palace is the largest teak palace in the world and one of the important protected monuments in Thailand.
Teak is widely used in the hood at the rear of the Centennial Rolls Royce commemorative car and the platform in the rear compartment.
2、 Characteristics of teak
Teak, also known as carmine tree, is a large tree of Verbenaceae, with a height of 40-50 meters and a diameter of 2-2.5 meters at breast height. It is native to Myanmar, Thailand, India, Laos and other places, and is the primary afforestation tree species in Southeast Asia.
Teak characteristics
1. Teak is glossy, oily and bright. Its material is rich in iron and heavy oil, which makes it not easy to deform, and has a special fragrance. It is good for the brain nervous system of middle-aged and elderly people, and can drive away snakes, insects, mice, ants, and insect borers.
2. Teak has a very small dry shrinkage coefficient, which is the smallest deformation coefficient in wood, and its stability is excellent.
3. Teak is extremely wear-resistant, water-resistant, fire-resistant and corrosion-resistant. It is the only board that will not bend and crack under seawater erosion and sunlight exposure. For centuries, it has been considered by mariners as the most durable wood in the world.
4. The texture is delicate and beautiful: beautiful ink lines and colorful oil shadows form a variety of natural textures after the overall decoration.
5. Teak has good adhesive, paint and wax properties, good nail holding power and good comprehensive performance, so it is recognized as a valuable tree species in the world. It is the best material for manufacturing high-end furniture, flooring, indoor and outdoor decoration.
Teak characteristics
1. Teak heartwood is golden brown to yellowish brown, and becomes dark brown after a long time. The heart sapwood is clearly distinguished, and the sapwood is yellowish white.
2. Teak often has dark stripes, with obvious ink lines (mineral lines) and oil spots. The beautiful ink lines and colorful oil shadows of old teak form a unique natural texture.
3. What is more magical about teak is that its polished surface color can be oxidized into golden yellow through photosynthesis, and the color will become more beautiful with time.
3、 Differences in teak materials
Different material and tree age
Teak can be divided into primitive forest wild wood (material a) and artificial forest fast-growing wood (material b) according to tree age. The age of the original forest timber is generally more than 100 years, and the DBH is more than 50 cm; The age of fast-growing wood is generally within 50 years, and the diameter is about 15-30cm.
Teak growing in the primeval forest is precious. Wild wood is oily, moisture-proof, insect proof, extremely corrosion-resistant, and stable wood. Compared with wild wood, fast-growing wood (material b) has low density, poor oiliness, high shrinkage and low stability.
Teak wood used by Tyco is wild wood from Myanmar's natural virgin forest, with a tree age of more than 200 years and a diameter of more than 1 meter at breast height. You can choose top-level materials such as best black, best tiger spot shadow, best straight grain, best mountain grain, etc. the wood is older, the wood property is better, and the color is more noble.
Different materials and places of origin
The original timber owners of teak exist in Thailand and Myanmar, which is the most authentic origin of teak. At present, because Thailand has banned logging, Myanmar teak is the best. Pomelo wood in Indonesia, South America and Africa is mainly fast-growing forest wood. Teak wood used by Tyco is old teak wood produced in the primitive forest of Myanmar.
Different material grades
Teak market is generally divided into six levels: selection level (SA), advanced (sb), material selection level (SC), level 1 (f), level 2 (II), and market level (m).
The higher the grade of the material, the stricter the limitation on the defects of the plate surface, so the lower the yield and the higher the value. TECO selected grade timber (SA) is not allowed to have big knots, big wormholes, sunlight cracks, big green spots or leather mouths, big white powder mouths, soft heartwood, white edges, staggered or inclined wood grains, vibration ripples, rough wood grains (extensive growth), splitting or serious mechanical damage. The high-grade material (sb) will be separately allowed to have a diameter (1.30 cm) that does not penetrate the opposite knot, or a diameter (0.6 cm) that does not penetrate the opposite wormhole.
Different material specifications
The larger the length, width and thickness of teak plank, the larger the tree diameter, the older the tree age, and the higher the value.
The general specification of teak in the market is generally 2.2 or 2.6 meters long, 10-20cm wide and 25 or 50mm thick.
TECO adopts teak trees that are over 200 years old. The board width can reach 1 meter, the length can reach 5 meters, and the thickness can reach 10cm. It can realize customization of large-scale logs that are super long, wider or thicker, and the product value is higher.
Different curing cycles
Due to the natural characteristics of teak, it is not suitable for artificial drying. Therefore, the longer the natural curing time of teak, the lower the moisture content of the material and the better the stability of the product.
In the processing process, it also needs to be exposed to the sun for 7-10 days, and the polished surface is oxidized by photosynthesis under the sunlight to form a shiny golden luster, so as to ensure that the color of the product is more beautiful.
The natural curing period of logs is more than one year, up to 5 years at most, and the curing period of plank is more than six months, so the dryness of teak wood is good, the moisture content is low, the surface color is uniform, and the product stability is better.
4、 Comparison of real and fake teak in Myanmar Market
Those with high prices must be counterfeited. Teak is a high-grade wood, and its price is also rising year by year. Therefore, the market has used wood with teak related characteristics to impersonate and mislead consumers.
1、 Using materials from different places of origin to impersonate
Indonesia, America and Africa are often used as teak from Myanmar. Due to different wood producing areas and different climates, the performance, appearance and value of materials vary greatly. Teak in Indonesia, Africa and the Americas is mostly fast teak, which is light in oil and soft in wood. Its material stability is far from that of the real teak in the primitive forest of Myanmar, and it is easy to crack and deform.
2、 Use materials with similar appearance to pretend
In recent years, the more successful imitation of teak is the great American pigeonpea produced in Africa. Many characteristics and advantages are similar to teak, so it can be naturally imitated as teak, but the price is very different.
Common counterfeits in the market: Golden grapefruit (black heart lotus), golden grapefruit, African grapefruit (big American pigeonpea), purple grapefruit, grapefruit sandalwood (saiyounan), iron grapefruit (Polei), beautiful grapefruit, etc. the appearance is close to grapefruit, and the name of the wood species (commonly known) will also carry the word "Grapefruit", but it is not a grapefruit species, and does not have the performance of grapefruit.
There are many ways to identify teak
The first is to smell: Teak has a unique slightly sour wood fat fragrance (especially after heating and grinding);
The second is to see: Teak has elegant and natural ink lines and oil spots, while fake teak has no ink lines;
Third, touch: teak is rich in oil, with smooth profile and delicate hand feel; Fake teak usually does not contain oil or has little oil, and its hand feel is rough;
The fourth is dripping water: sprinkle water on the wood surface. After a period of time, the water on the real teak will remain beaded and will not penetrate, while the fake teak will absorb water and leave diffuse water stains.
5、 Application of Myanmar teak in TECO products
TECO focuses on high-end log customization, adheres to the use of rare logs, adheres to pure hand-made, and brands each inch of logs with a unique luxury mark, so that each product becomes a symbol of identity and taste. Myanmar teak is one of the characteristic wood species promoted by TECO, which is widely used in various styles and large-scale customization of logs.
