Along your journey as a woodworker, you may encounter types of wood that are new to you. Teak is a familiar name, but padauk is not as common as teak. Padauk is another wood that is native to tropical countries.
Teak vs. padauk is an interesting topic wherein padauk frequently serves as a viable alternative to teak. However, both types of wood are intrinsically different in many ways, which makes it worthwhile to know the differences and benefits of either wood species. Woodworkers put a high value on both teak and padauk for various woodworking projects.
Teak vs Padauk
Teak is familiar to most woodworkers. It is one of the most popular forms of wood in the world. Teak grows in tropical regions and has a long history of being used for various applications since ancient times. It exhibits beautiful grain patterns and is one of the most durable types of wood, especially for outdoor use.
Padauk is also native to the tropics and like teak, it exhibits exceptional strength, stability, and durability. It has approximately the same hardness and strength as teak wood and is stronger than many other types of hardwood. Padauk varies from teak in its color, which ranges from pink to orange and all other shades in between.
Teak: Background
Teak (Tectona grandis), is a tropical wood that you will find growing in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, parts of Africa, and Myanmar. The trees grow up to heights of 130 feet with tree trunks of up to 5 feet in diameter.
People started using teak during the 7th century for building their homes and it was a type of wood used by wealthy people. Later this wood was used extensively by the Dutch in Indonesia.
Teak has a wide color range from yellow to golden brown. Although it has a straight grain pattern, the striations in the wood grain look beautiful after treating it appropriately.
It is an oily wood due to the natural oil it produces. This oil makes it highly durable and water-resistant. It makes it a wood suitable for outdoor use and a range of other applications including shipbuilding. It is in scarce supply today due to overharvesting. Teak oil also contains a group of chemicals called “tannins” which contribute to the process of leather tanning.
Padauk: Background
Padauk like teak is durable, strong, and “dimensionally stable.” Dimensionally stable types of wood are those that do not warp, swell, or crack easily when exposed to excessive moisture, sunlight, or extreme weather.
There are numerous species in the padauk family – 35 are accepted as padauk species today. The most popular species of padauk are African padauk, Burma padauk, and Andaman padauk. It is a fast-growing tree and grows in many places across the world in Africa and Asia.
Teak vs Padauk: Appearance
Teak is well-known for its golden-brown and sometimes medium brown color. It tends to become dark with age. The wood grain pattern is straight with intermittent waviness. It is an oily wood because it produces natural oils that give the surface an oily sheen.
Padauk is a type of wood that comes in shades of red, from orange to pink. It darkens quickly when exposed to sunlight, and can even end up deep maroon. There is a common tendency to confuse padauk wood with rosewood.
Padauk wood exhibits a fairly interlocked grain pattern. The wood has a coarse texture with large, open pores.
Teak vs Padauk: Durability
Teak is one of the most durable woods in the world, and among the strongest as well. All this makes it an extremely sought-after type of wood. The natural oil that teak produces gives it a high resistance to pests and moisture.
Because of teak’s high durability, it is good outdoor wood and makes great-looking outdoor furniture. Teak resists mold and rot quite well, which adds to its longevity.
We consider padauk as a durable to extremely durable wood. It has adequate resistance to decay and it also resists attack from insects quite well.
Teak vs Padauk: Maintenance
If you do not apply a finish to teak wood, it remains intact, but might develop a silvery-grey patina over time. But if you maintain it by applying a finish, cleaning it, and refinishing it regularly, it can last you a lifetime.
To maintain teak, you can apply primer, paint, varnish, or oil. You will only apply primer before painting the wood. But most people prefer to use clear or semi-transparent finishes. It brings out the beauty of the wood grain patterns while protecting the wood.
Padauk is also a fairly durable type of wood and you can use it for indoor and outdoor applications. The wood comes under the category of a “Class 5 Wood” which lists it as an extremely durable species, resistant to insect attack.
Padauk maintenance is also quite straightforward. However, if you have a deck made from padouk wood, like teak it may discolor to a grey shade due to exposure to excessive sunlight. You can protect a padouk deck by applying a saturator and a wood finish. The work of a saturator is to open up the pores to allow the wood finish to penetrate.
Teak vs Padauk: Workability and Uses
Teak is easy to work with. You will find some difficulty, however, due to its high silica content. This silica has a detrimental effect on cutting blades. When you work on teak you may find that you need to sharpen your tools more often.
Teak accepts finishes and glues well. But due to the high oil content in the wood, rubbing a solvent on the surface of the wood before applications helps.
Teak makes great indoor and outdoor structures and items. We make furniture, cabinets, and flooring from teak. It also serves well to build boats and ships.
Another significant use of teak wood is its contribution to the tannery industry. The high content of tannin in teak makes it a valuable source of tannin for processing leather.
Padauk is also an easy wood to work with, both with hand and machine tools. It also has no issues with using glues and applying varnishes on it. The wood takes screws and nails quite well.
We use Padauk wood in flooring and to make tool handles, furniture, veneer, turned objects, musical instruments, and small wooden objects.
Teak vs Padauk: Price
Teak is a universally expensive type of wood. Although the price varies in different regions, it is usually highly priced due to its short supply and high demand.
Padauk on the other hand is cheaper than teak. However, it is more expensive than many other hardwoods on the market except for some exotic woods like mahogany, ebony, and sandalwood.
Teak vs Padauk: Sustainability
Excessive harvesting of teak wood has resulted in its near extinction. Although it is not mentioned on any of the endangered wood species lists, it is for all practical purposes, endangered.
Teak is a controversial form of lumber and is banned in several countries. But poaching still goes on, and the wood finds its way into the black market. Although some countries are monitoring teak very closely, you need to verify the source of any teak that you may procure.
Padauk is sometimes considered a sustainable form of wood and sometimes not. We consider it sustainable due to its carbon storage and carbon sequestration capacity.
But considering the extent of illegal logging that occurs in Africa and Asia, it could render this wood unsustainable. Padauk doesn’t feature in any of the lists of endangered wood species.
Teak vs Padauk: Comparison Table
| Parameter | Teak | Padauk |
| Botanical name | Tectona grandis | Pterocarpus |
| Color | Golden to medium brown | Bright red/orange |
| Durability | Highly durable | Highly durable |
| Hardness (Janka Scale) | 1,070 lbf. to 2,330 lbf. | 1,630 lbf. to 2,150 lbf. |
| Strength | Extremely strong | Extremely strong |
| Maintenance | Easy to maintain | Need to protect it from sunlight to retain the color |
| Price | Expensive | Medium to highly expensive |
| Suitability for outdoors | Yes | Yes |
| Suitability for wood carving | Yes | Yes |
| Workability | Easy to work with | Easy to work with |
| Smell | Leathery smell | Light aromatic scent |
| Availability | Limited availability | More available than teak |
| Special features if any | No special features | No special features |
Conclusion
We hope you found this discussion of teak vs. padauk interesting. While it can be illegal to procure teak under certain circumstances, you wouldn’t be breaking any laws with padauk.
But based on your preferences and requirements for your project, you will find that both kinds of wood can serve you well. The major difference between these two types of wood is the color which could be a deciding factor in choosing one over the other.
In any case, use either teak or padauk and you’ll get great satisfaction from the results you get in your next woodworking project.
Happy woodworking!