Filler material for teak

Sep 11, 2013
242
Catalina 25 6106 Lake Erie Metro Park
One of my teak hatch rails has a “never ending” crack. What filler material should I use to repair it? Some sort of epoxy? I’d like to try and match colors.
Thanx,
Tom G
 
May 27, 2004
1,964
Hunter 30_74-83 Ponce Inlet FL
Here's what I did for a similar situation...
I taped off the area and used thickened epoxy as a base to stableize the crack.
Then I used wood filler, that is sold in a tube or can, that I dyed to match
the teak rail as it looks AFTER the teak is cleaned, lightly sanded and varnished.
It's not an exact match and it may 'age' to a different shade over time.
But the crack is now repaired and stabilized and should not grow further.
I tried using teak sawdust with epoxy, but the color didn't come close to matching.
 
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Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
If you have a piece of scrap teak, take sand paper to it and make a lot of teak dust.

At the end of the cracks drill a very small hole. This will stop the crack from spreading. The hole should be a bit larger than the crack is wide.

Wipe the teak and the crack with denatured alcohol to remove any contaminates and oils.

Mix the epoxy as @ggrizzard suggests and use the teak sanding dust as a thickener. You will need a lot of dust, but teak sands easily. Fill the crack with the thickened epoxy. In the deeper sections take a toothpick, a paperclip or something similar to pop the air bubbles that will be trapped in the crack, pop them, let the epoxy settle, add more epoxy.

Good Luck!
 

DArcy

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,691
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
I just did this with the method Dave laid out except I had a LOT of teak sawdust from making plugs for the screw holes in my cap rails. A course sand paper would make better dust however, the plug cutter makes rather course dust so I had to sift through to get the fine stuff. By the time I varnished (actually Cetol'd) a few coats it was hard to see the crack.
 
Dec 28, 2015
1,837
Laser, Hunter H30 Cherubini Tacoma
If you have a piece of scrap teak, take sand paper to it and make a lot of teak dust.

At the end of the cracks drill a very small hole. This will stop the crack from spreading. The hole should be a bit larger than the crack is wide.

Wipe the teak and the crack with denatured alcohol to remove any contaminates and oils.

Mix the epoxy as @ggrizzard suggests and use the teak sanding dust as a thickener. You will need a lot of dust, but teak sands easily. Fill the crack with the thickened epoxy. In the deeper sections take a toothpick, a paperclip or something similar to pop the air bubbles that will be trapped in the crack, pop them, let the epoxy settle, add more epoxy.

Good Luck!
Do this but use a orbital sander. It collects the dust for you but just make sure you clean out the collector before. I’d try to clean out the crack as good as you can to get good adhesion.
 
Sep 11, 2013
242
Catalina 25 6106 Lake Erie Metro Park
Thanx for the tips….especially in regard to the teak dust…never would have thought of that. I tried the wood filler, it didn’t last the season.
Thanx again,
Tom G
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
When I've needed to repair wood, especially wood I want to varnish, I find a wood shop and get a coffee can of the correct color of saw dust. I then mix the saw dust with polyester resin and do the repair. Often it isn't noticeable unless one is looking carefully, and of course you will notice it more than others. Note: it will take many times the normal amount of catalyst, so buy accordingly.
 
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TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Whenever I have a crack to fill, I do a Dutchman patch. A small crack can usually be filled with a feather or sliver of the same species of wood. A thin rip of material with a little bevel will slide snugly into a varying split or crack that runs with the grain of the area to be repaired.

A little bigger crack might require a bigger patch. Sometimes it's easiest to cut the whole crack area out with a plunge router.

However you do it, the Dutchman epoxied in becomes a part of the wood to allow expansion and contraction. Filler won't usually do that. Plus it's tough to match filler with the surrounding wood.



Coaming dutchmen patch finished (1 of 1).jpg
 

DArcy

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,691
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
One word of caution, mix the epoxy thoroughly before adding any filler (as usual).
 
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