Curious Hardwood Aspect (re: Boat Building) ?

Question

Question: Is there enough metal snake in this woodpile that can put its bite on wood working tools set to address it?

Have offer of free teak and other tropical hardwood usually in

4x4x144 inch lengths. Wood former packing for steel from

Asia. Burned sample quanity and saw unusually vivid color flares. Suspect wood contains unknown proportions of metal

from mill product exposure. Drilling and cuts are slow. Do

not have enough history yet to show tool wear increase. Are

inclined to worry. Has reader worked same sourced woods?

Answer 1

Good teak is very hard. Try not to inhale dust as it is toxic. Colour flares are due to the oils in the wood and captive mineral salts from submersion...the wood has been soaked in water or other manufacturing chemicals over it's lifetime.

Answer 2

I've worked a lot with teak and SE Asian hardwoods....first I'd be skeptical that its Burmese teak as that is in short supply, embargoed by Burma, and so pricey that it wouldn't be used as skids.......it's probably "Vietnamese teak" ( sorry don't have the  genus name in front of me) which is a good substitute for real teak.

hard on tools.yep. Good quality saw blades and frequently sharpened drill bits are the answer

and  colored flame is probably the oils...possibly iron/steel from the steel sheets ( who in Asia has steel to export? I thought it was all being used in China and India.....)

so the question is what are you using this for? Furniture? Probably OK....boat  building stuff? Structural? Hm maybe not.....decorative/varnish bright work? Cut some up throw it outside and see how it does with fading and checking.....