Harvested Teak

Harvested teak is one of nature's most wonderful renewable natural resources. We highly recommend that our clients be well-informed when considering teak to achieve the most from this highly durable product.

Teak, or tectona grandis is harvested as a renewable rainforest species. Sustainable teak farms are not new - they were planted by the Dutch during Indonesia's colonization over 300 years ago.

Harvested teak is a highly regulated forestry sector and enforced by governments worldwide.

Teak contains the highest natural oil content of all hardwoods. Accordingly, teak is unique in its natural water resilient properties.

All of the Archipel teak product sold is kiln-dried. This results in occasionally longer production times, but the results are worth the wait and ensure the stability of the pieces we sell. We endeavor to continually improve upon the water soluble or water-based finishes that we already apply wherever possible.

Teak Construction
Our construction is fundamentally based on dovetail and mortise & tenon wood craft techniques. This ensures the highest quality commercial strength for products that will surely require stamina by our clients.

Harvested Teak Quality
Grade B and A Teak is utilized for all in all of the Archipel product collections. This results products with long-life and aesthetic beauty. For reference, we outline here some information regarding the grades of teak available on the market.

A Grade Teak – this type of teak is easy to work, the natural oils protect it from the conditions of weathering, very durable in outdoors, needs no finishing, will last a lifetime as the reason is it mainly used for flooring and or boat decking on expensive vessels.

B Grade Teak – easy to work with in production using factory processing machines, natural oils to protect in outdoor applications, can be left unfinished – raw sanded or a light finish to enrich it’s appearance, will be long lasting in outdoors and is ideal for making outdoor furniture.

C Grade Teak – more difficult to work with on factory machines as it tends to be less dense and more prone to gouging and defects can cause the wood to break down during processing, needs a strong sealing finish placed over it as it has less oil content, will not last long in outdoor conditions and is prone to splitting and warping over time, not suitable for outdoor furniture but ok for indoor lower end furniture.

Jati Kampong Teak – not suitable for machinery and usually used for hand made furniture where it is not under stress from processing, cannot be used for outdoor applications as it will not last long at all, cracking and warping are potentially high and breaking of components is highly likely under constant use in outdoor applications.