Couple Teak questions - bathroom vanity - color and finish

[Dale Murray]

TWO QUESTIONS:

1.
I've started a bathroom vanity build using curly teak plywood and solid teak edging.

For the edging I am using a piece of 3.5"x3.5"x49" teak donated by a friend who's had it more than 14 years. As expected it was grey on the outside. First cut split it down the middle to reveal a very rich, deep color - and to my colorblind eyes - very red. I can definitely feel the oils in the wood.

I did not let the red color stop me and I finished the rough shape of the edging of the top - still very red.

I wiped it down with acetone several times and it seems to be lightening and moving the same direction as the marine plywood. The first few wipe downs left my hand sticky from the dissolved oils.

Is there a trick to removing the surface oils or should I continue wiping with acetone until I get the two woods in the same color family?

2.
I am leaning toward Epiphanes finish on this project.
- Any other brands I should consider?
- I definitely want something more protective than oil and would really prefer a satin finish.

[Wayne Lomman]

Dale, the Epifanes product range should be ok. Check the website to confirm but I think you will find that they have a preference for which of their products are best suited to teak.

As far as the colour goes, using solvent to change the colour is new to me. For all my teak work, I have laid up my own sawn veneers (yacht fitness) and the colour has never been an issue, nor has the oil content caused any gluing or finishing problems. I will watch with interest to see other comments. With colour matching in general, I would think about staining to bring the colours into harmony. I think Epifanes have a product for this as well. Cheers

[Dale Murray]

I'll post a few photos later tonight.
The plywood
The freshly cut teak
The teak after being wiped down repeatedly with acetone

[Dale Murray]

You can see the color differences.

Plywood, solid teak wiped down several times with acetone, and how it looked freshly cut. The fresh cut and the wiped down piece are from the same board.

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