Recycled Teak Railway Sleepers

[John15]

At a small camp in the Okavango Delta in Botswana recently I was amazed to be eating at a table made from old teak railway sleepers. The table top was 2" thick so I guess the sleepers were 7 or 8" thick originally, and cut into three.
There is a lot of smallish secondary growth teak growing there, but pretty well all the primary stuff has been harvested.

John

 

[MikeG.]

I know of a nice stand of mature teak near Lake IteshiTeshi in Zambia. If the Chinese know about it too, it won't be there long.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It is thought that in a few years time there will not be tree standing In Mozambique the speed at which the Chinese are deforesting it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Years ago I saw some pictures of stunning furniture made by an Australian from reimported yellow jarrah railway sleepers from S. Africa.

 

[MikeG.]

Years ago I saw some pictures of stunning furniture made by an Australian from reimported yellow jarrah railway sleepers from S. Africa.

Like Jarabosky, then. [url=http://www.jarabosky.co.uk/in...tp://www.jarabosky.co.uk/index.php/about.html
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[Sir Percy]

Years ago I saw some pictures of stunning furniture made by an Australian from reimported yellow jarrah railway sleepers from S. Africa.

Just recently picked up a catalogue from a high-end 'ecologically-minded' furniture store:
"Our reclaimed teak furniture is handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in Indonesia
[....]
Because of the rapid population increase and economic growth in Indonesia, substantial building work has been carried out across the country and the old-style Javanese wooden buildings have been modernised. There is now a seasoned supply of reclaimed teak which is perfect for furniture production."

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've got chairs made from old Thai teak cart wheels - heavy, atrociously badly made, but somehow charming in a way.