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Latin name "Tectona
Grandis Linn". Teakwood or Golden Teak is the king of hardwoods and it's one of
the world's most valuable timbers,
recognized for its durability and
stability. Teak is more durable than any other hardwood and has unparalleled
rich beauty. Teak can withstand all types of weather. Ancient Burmese and
Thai royalty considered teak to be a royal tree. It has been the pillar of
the shipbuilding industry for centuries. The decks of the Titanic were
covered in Teak, and the wood is as good today as the day she sank on 1912.
Teak is also used in the Middle East oil industry as one of the very few
timbers that can withstand the punishing heat of the desert and will not
readily catch fire. Teak can withstand harsh chemicals, and is resistant to
fungi, rot and termites. Unlike other woods, teak does not turn black when
in contact with metals. It looks best when applied transparent and light
colors. Teak is the common name for “Tectona grandis”, a large deciduous
tree of the family Verbenaceae, or its wood, one of the most valuable
timbers. Teak has been widely used in India for more than 2,000 years. The
name teak is from the Malayan word tekka. The tree has a straight, but often
buttressed, stem (i.e., thickened at the base), a spreading crown, and
four-sided branch lets with large quadrangular pith. The leaves are opposite
or sometimes whorled in young specimens, about 0.5 meter (1.5 feet) long and
23 centimeters (9 inches) wide. In shape they resemble those of the tobacco
plant, but their substance is hard and the surface rough. The branches
terminate in many small white flowers in large, erect, cross-branched
panicles. The fruit is a drupe (fleshy, with a stony seed), two-thirds of an
inch in diameter. The bark of the stem is about 1.3 cm thick, gray or
brownish gray, the sapwood white; the unseasoned heartwood has a pleasant
and strong aromatic fragrance and a beautiful golden-yellow colour, which on
seasoning darkens into brown, mottled with darker streaks. The timber
retains its aromatic fragrance to a great age. Native to India, Burma, and
Thailand, the tree grows as far north as about the 25th parallel in these
areas and to the 32nd parallel in the Punjab. The tree is not found near the
coast; the most valuable forests are on low hills up to about 3,000 feet.
Stands are also found in the Philippines and in Java and elsewhere in the
Malay Archipelago. Teak is also planted in Africa and Central America.
During the dry season the tree is leafless; in hot localities the leaves
fall in January, but in moist places the tree remains green until March. At
the end of the dry season, when the first monsoon rains fall, the new
foliage emerges. Although the tree flowers freely, few seeds are produced
because many of the flowers are sterile. The forest fires of the dry season
after the seeds have ripened and have partly fallen, impede the spread of
the tree by self-sown seed. Teak trees on good soil have attained an average
height of 18 m in 15 years, with a girth, breast high, of 0.5 m. In the
natural forests teak timber with a girth of about 2 m (diameter of 0.6 m) is
never less than 100 and often more than 200 years old. Mature trees are
usually not more than 150 ft high. Due to the oil and rubber found naturally
in the wood, teak has a greater ability to withstand the elements than any
other wood. For this reason it has been the preferred choice for boats, and
in fact, it has been used on aircraft carrier decks! This is because of its
ability to resist splintering, warping and rotting. (If left un-oiled, our
furniture will turn a soft dove gray when allowed to remain outdoors. This
process will take approximately one year.) Teak timber is valued in warm
countries principally for its extraordinary durability. The timber is
practically imperishable under cover. Teakwood is well know since
early/ancient times as a valuable resource due to its long life reliability
and weather resistance as well as its workable qualities. Pieces of teak
have been found (in India) over 200 years old and still intact. Teakwood is
used for shipbuilding, fine furniture, door and window frames, wharves,
bridges, cooling-tower louvers, flooring, paneling, railway cars, and
Venetian blinds. An important property of teak is its extremely good
dimensional stability. It is strong, of medium weight, and of average
hardness. Termites eat the sapwood but rarely attack the heartwood; it is
not, however, completely resistant to marine borers. Teak also refers
specifically to the wood and its characteristic color, which ranges from
olive to yellowish gray or moderate brown. Teak furniture dates back prior
to the 19th century used mainly by the Chinese for export to Europe. The
Victorian era also incorporated the use of teakwood during the mechanical
era of the 1840’s with the invention of presses, veneer cutters etc which
enabled them to create decorative elegant high class furniture. Another
factor here is transportation (shipping) was also becoming more advanced.
Burma produces most of the world's supply, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and
Sri Lanka (Ceylon) ranking next in production. |
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Latin Name "Pterocarpus Macrocarpus Kurz".
Synonyms: Burmese rosewood, Burma padauk, Asian rosewood.
Family: Magnoliopsida -
Rosidae - Fabales - Leguminosae.
Density 0.56 to 0.80.
Application: furniture, door frames, cabinet-making, railways and bridges.
Source: Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Durability: Excellent. Rosewood is a hardwood bright
red in color, deepening in time to a very deep red. Usually fairly dense and
heavy, coarse textured, with prominent open pores. Density varies as a
result of growing conditions, generally machines well regardless of density.
Burma leads Asia in forest management and conservation with most of her
original forest still in tact. Nearly all of the Burmese timbers are taken
from large managed plantation areas still employing very traditional
extraction methods such as elephant logging, ensuring the least disturbance
to the surrounding flora and fauna. Burma is famous for it's variety of
hardwoods. These are Padauk (Burmese Rosewood) Teak and Pyinkado just to
name a few... |
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And its Art: The shining,
playful, and reflected light of mother of pearl has attracted the attention
of human beings since the beginning of the world. Societies, tribes, and
nations have all added the technology of their day to their experience,
knowledge, and understanding, and they have
turned
mother of pearl from one form into another. Though mother of pearl is quite
widespread around the world, its assumption of the aspect of a magnificent
branch of the arts after a past of many centuries began when it came into
the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Mother of pearl is the shell of mollusks
such as mussels and oysters as well as of pseudo-pods (such as snails),
though if we were to refer to it only as "shell" we would be slighting this
extraordinary creation of God. When the young of these creatures come into
the world they start their struggle to live. Up to a point, they need
shelter, a house, in order to preserve their tiny existence, the reason
being that they have many enemies. They undertake this business with a
secret God-given force, and create the walls of their housing by means of
layer upon layer of inexhaustible secretions, ensuring the harmonious
continued growth of its house together with itself. Types of Mother of
Pearl: (1) White Mother of Pearl: This is from pearl-bearing oysters. Its
reflective properties are high and it is one of the most commonly used types
of this material. (2) Iridescent Mother of Pearl: This is a type in which
the colors of pink and green are predominant. (3) Chip (Variegated) Mother
of Pearl: This is a multicolored type. (4) Stone Mother of Pearl: This type
of mother of pearls is white and has low reflective power (5) Mat Mother of
Pearl: This type of mother of pearl is dull grey and has a low reflective
power. |
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