Hello from Florida  

Mike in Florida here.

Been a fan of teak furniture for quite a few years now, and have accumulated various pieces, some good, some so-so, and some just plain, well, not so good.

Used furniture has essentially no resale value, and I have also found that most people don't know what they have or if they do, they don't care, they just want it gone. I have gotten some astonishing deals by following Craigslist, and even a few items at thrift shops! All teak of course, the only other furniture I buy is steel shelving for my hangar/workshop/man cave.

A lot of it is Scan Design, they sell some really expensive good stuff and also a secondary line of "budget" furniture. I've been able to get examples of both. Occasionally, I see IKEA items, but usually pass on them. The designs are good but the quality is sometimes lacking. IKEA has only been available here for a few years so most of what becomes available used is fairly new and has a long way to go before it becomes "classic".

Often, minor repairs are needed. Usually this is nicks and scratches, loose hardware, or failed glue joints. None of these are a problem.

One thing I do see on some items is crumbling (usually from water damage) shelves and panels. The panels are made with a core of OSB (oriented strand board, wood chips glued and pressed together) with a veneer of teak. (Obviously, this doesn't apply to solid teak construction).  Dowels and twist-lock sockets pull out because the OSB is falling apart.

I have found a way to fix them, properly and permanently. This part you already know about - clamp everything together after assembling the pieces carefully and use Gorilla Glue - but Gorilla Glue foams up and glues the clamps to the item you are fixing, and Gorilla Glue is TOUGH, trying to remove the clamps destroys whatever you clamped together! It just won't let go . . . and it fizzes out the ends and makes a mess which is also difficult to clean up.

As it turns out, there is a boat factory nearby, and I know the owner. They use a blue silicone plastic "mold release" skin on the boat molds. Comes in a big roll, probably two meters wide and kilometers long. They use it ONE TIME for each boat, then discard it. Nothing, and I mean nothing sticks to it. Not epoxy, not polyurethane, not fiberglass, nothing - and Gorilla Glue doesn't either!

So now, when I am fixing a panel, I put a sheet of this silicone plastic on the teak veneer and then the clamp blocks go over that. (Clamp block, silicone sheet, panel being fixed, second silicone sheet, second clamp block, tighten it down and let it dry.) Nothing sticks, the veneer is undamaged, and anything that has squeezed out the end (which is unfinished anyway) is cleaned off with a single edge razor. The repair is stronger than the original panel.

I look forward to participating in this forum!

Best Regards,

Mike