If you’ve been woodworking for a decent amount of time, you’ve probably heard of Iroko, and we’re certain you’ve heard of Teak. Well, Iroko is a substitute for Teak, and it actually stacks up well.
Which one should YOU use, though?
Today, we’re going to compare the two to find out which one is better in specific situations.
Check it out.
Iroko VS Teak: Sanding
These two are pretty equal when it comes to their sanding capabilities. They both have extremely dense surfaces, and you can easily sand them to a fine polish by hand.
So, we’ll consider it a tie.
Iroko VS Teak: Staining
This category depends on the age of the wood.
Teak is very light in color, and it can be almost white at times. That means that it can take on stain treatments extremely well, and it won’t alter the color of the stain much at all. As a trade-off, it also means your mistakes are always going to be visible. So, you have to be extremely patient.
On the other hand, Iroko is light when it’s young, and it turns almost reddish when it ages. This means that, even if you stain it when it’s young, it’s going to look different in twenty years. Also, if you stain older pieces of Iroko, you might need to use a darker stain to make it show up over the reddish color of the wood.
In this category, Teak is easier to work with, and it gets the point. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the beauty of aged Iroko. You might not miss that stain.
Iroko VS Teak: Planing
This one goes to Teak. There’s no arguing about it. Why is that, though? Well, it comes down to the woodgrain.
Teak has a very uniform woodgrain. You’ll rarely purchase a piece of Teak that has wonky bits. When you go to plane a piece of Teak, that means it will cleanly sheer off slices and leave it looking extremely smooth. The same cannot be said for Iroko.
Iroko suffers from an interlocking grain problem. It’s not too common, and if you purchase a piece of timber, it’ll likely only be in one or two spots. You can use clever cuts to remove the interlocking grain and keep the good parts for parts of the project you need to plane or route. However, if you’re a beginner, and you can’t pick up on the interlocking sections, you will go to plane it, and you will get a substantial “tear out”. You can sand that away, but if you need a piece to be extremely precise, that just won’t work.
Planing is such an important part of woodworking that you really need to consider this.
Iroko VS Teak: Cutting:
The two cut extremely well. So, there aren’t any worries to describe here.
Conclusion
We would say that Teak is the better choice overall, but it’s also very expensive. When you’re starting out, or you want that reddish color when it ages, try Iroko and work with its imperfections. When you’re doing a project you cannot afford to mess up, choose Teak.
