woodbed stain and urethane coats

[getsomegreen]

How many coats of stain and urethane did you guys use on your wood bed?

[davepl]

About 3 stain and 6 clear in my case.

[getsomegreen]

did you sand in between each clear?

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by getsomegreen

How many coats of stain and urethane did you guys use on your wood bed?

what wood are you wanting to use?? it depends upon your selection of wood and finish you are wanting to get.
Mine is basic pine that I cut and made to fit that i bought from the local lumber yard. I bought an natural stain from Menards with a weather retardant in it and I put 4 coats on. Putting it on with a brush, I had to wipe it down after waiting about a few minutes on each board. I didn't use any varnish. Here's some pics

[getsomegreen]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

what wood are you wanting to use?? it depends upon your selection of wood and finish you are wanting to get.
Mine is basic pine that I cut and made to fit that i bought from the local lumber yard. I bought an natural stain from Menards with a weather retardant in it and I put 4 coats on. Putting it on with a brush, I had to wipe it down after waiting about a few minutes on each board. I didn't use any varnish. Here's some pics

I'm using oak , minwax stain and clear.

[my56chevytruck]

what truck you putting this wood into?? you may already know, but I laid all my wood out on a work table so I could do all at once. may not be the right way for some, but i didn't want to over stain one and not the others. Stain with either a rag/sponge or brush and to get the color you want depends on how soon after application you wipe off. good luck to you and make sure you post some pics.

[dirtdog604]

I did some research, and it seems the most durable finish is to, first of all, round off all the sharp edges on the boards. This is where almost all finishes fail first, on the sharp edge where there is very little product. After that, use an epoxy sealer, two coats, sand lightly in between. Then use automotive clear, 4-5 coats, let dry a day in between coats, sand after each coat.
This will give you a UV resistant finish that can last for 20 years. The clear coat is durable, but wont stick to the wood good enough, hence the epoxy sealer, it sticks to the wood, the clear coat sticks to it. Varnish, etc, will only give you two years max before your'e doing it all again.

[69chevy lwb]

4 coats of walnut and 4 coats of spar varnish sanded between each

[LongBox]

I have a good hunch that it is important to seal all the sides and edges of the wood, top, bottom, sides, and ends. This ought to help prevent moisture from getting into the wood and causing warping, discolouring, and rotting. Of course, this is just my opinion.

[GRX]

My oak planks are hit with steel wool, then two good coats of Minwax PolyShades every other spring. Basically stain plus polyurethrane in one step. Looking good for over 10 years now.

That said, my truck is not show quality - often used for hauling. And since it's a longbed stepper, a full sheet of plywood fits nicely for protection against loads like gravel and firewood.

[67Slider]

I didn't stain mine but sealed the wood with Pelucid then about 6 coats of Helmsman Spar urethane. Sanded lightly or steel wooled between each coat. Not a show truck but doesn't get much in the bed.
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[OregonNed]

We used an aniline dye (water based) - maybe four coats, sanded each coat, followed by 13 coats of Clear varnish (Epiphanes) - the type used on kayaks and boats. Lastly a light occasional coat of Renaissance micro-crystaline wax. My truck spends most of it life out of sun and rain, (garaged). This was all on quarter sawn red oak.

[69 c10 - dsm]

I used one coat of stain (Sherwin Williams, Wood Classics, oil stain) and seven coats of Minwax (indoor/outdoor Helmsman spar urethane clear gloss). I applied this with a good quality 4" foam roller (found mine at Lowe's) and sanded with very fine steel wool between coats. Good luck!

[DaHos]

Originally Posted by 67Slider

.... then about 6 coats of Helmsman Spar urethane. Sanded lightly or steel wooled between each coat.

Same here.......