New Old Teak

[jwd12]

A friend had a teak porch and fence removed and I volunteered to keep the some of remains. One of the problems is that one side of each board is painted, the other side is in great condition. The boards are 7/8" thick and roughly 4" wide with lengths varing from 4' to 8'. After the painted is removed, the LOML wants a garden bench and flower pots. This seems like a good use. Does anyone have any experience with teak? It is hard and dense. I am a liitle afraid that it will quick dull my blades.

[cabinetman]

Some Teak isn't as hard as Red or White Oak, and then there's Brazilian Teak that's very hard. It's an oily wood, but machines well with sharp tooling. Use carbide tipped blades/bits.

It's best to do glue ups/joinery with freshly cut wood, Wipe down with acetone before gluing. A two part epoxy works very well.

.

[atgcpaul]

I have a drum sander so I'd probably run the painted side through that with
60 grit.

I have taken old oak flooring that had a clear coat of old poly on it and run
it through my planer. The blades were on their way out anyway and they
were pretty dull when I was finished. I could just hear them laboring through
the cut. I wouldn't run something painted through a planer, though.

Manual paint scrapers are also surprisingly fast and effective.

If you have a bandsaw, maybe you could set it up for a resaw and just "kiss"
the painted surface with the blade and then clean it up on a planer.

Most importantly, get a metal detector and run it over your boards before you
do any machining.

[charliex]

You could also try a heat gun.

[cabinetman]

One of the problems is that one side of each board is painted, the other side is in great condition.

Just use a chemical stripper.
.

[pelligrini]

I've got an old set of blades for my planer that I use for painted stuff. I first used them for removing the factory finish off a mess of maple flooring I obtained.

[jwd12]

Thanks guys, you have all been a great help. Doesn't seem to be the problem I expected.

[iceman61]

I would also not run painted wood thru a drum sander or a planer. Besides the paint particles having the potential to gum up, if you accidentally run wood through that has been painted with lead based paint, well you can imagine what a lead based dust would do to your lungs.