New Bed Wood time.

[custom10nut]

Finally got around to replacing the bed wood. Judging from the half dozen holes and the mushroom farm underneath, it's time..

[custom10nut]

Here's a pic of the new wood. Still have to sand it, drill the hole, stain it, and then preserve it. Shout out to GMC Pauls for the graphic on the measurements.
Still have a bit of work ahead of me.

[Mike C]

Nice. I'll be watching.

[crakarjax]

I just picked up some tigerwood today for my bed -- looks great but I got 3/4" and I'm worried that it might be too flexible. How thick is your wood?

[Jose's 69]

Recently re did mine. Would've been easier with bed off the truck but it wasn't to bad doing it with it on. Good luck.

[3 4EVER]

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by crakarjax

I just picked up some tigerwood today for my bed -- looks great but I got 3/4" and I'm worried that it might be too flexible. How thick is your wood?

It's a tad thicker than 3/4". I bought 1x6, and 1x8", but anyone who works with dimensional lumber, it not as thick or wide.
I had o ct the short outside boards to width, but the long boards were spot on.
3/4 thick is what the factory used so your boards should be fine.

[Smitty]

Found mine in a wrecking yard 20+ yrs. ago. Stored it complete on its side until recently when having my truck reworked. It was originally a long bed but was cut down to fit. Has some aging to it naturally but just gives it character like the character that will be behind the wheel.

[carryall]

What type of wood are you using?

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by carryall

What type of wood are you using?

It's "Arkansa Pine". I has a real nice grain pattern to it, and it doesn't have any knots or splits. The lumber yard I bought it from was real good about me being able to pick my boards, and then I cut them to length fight there.
The only down side, if there is one, is that I had to buy 16 foot long boards, in order to get the 97 inch length (why couldn't it have been 96, but that would've been too easy), so I have a bit of lumber left over. That's ok though, because I have lots of projects to use it on.

[crakarjax]

Originally Posted by custom10nut

It's "Arkansa Pine". I has a real nice grain pattern to it, and it doesn't have any knots or splits. The lumber yard I bought it from was real good about me being able to pick my boards, and then I cut them to length fight there.
The only down side, if there is one, is that I had to buy 16 foot long boards, in order to get the 97 inch length (why couldn't it have been 96, but that would've been too easy), so I have a bit of lumber left over. That's ok though, because I have lots of projects to use it on.

Same deal here! I bought 6 18ft boards and that gave me enough to do a longbed, with 76" leftover -- which I'll use as filler since I'm raising the rails and boards 3/4" to clear my notch.

[Old_Gold]

I'm always interested to see how the different grains turn out. I just finished pine as well, so yell with Any questions, and good luck on the project!

Jim

[custom10nut]

So far, so good. I have it all stained, and all cut out except for the back corners, which will be simple.
Tonight I sorted out my bolt kit, but still have to figure out where the washers go.
The kit came with 14 -1 inch washers with a 1/4center hole, and 26 1 inch washers with at 3/8 center hole.
I'll make notes when I take the old bolts out

[bs46488]

Curious what type of stain/clear protection everyone is using?

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by bs46488

Curious what type of stain/clear protection everyone is using?

Ousted two different color stains, Minwax "lpwich Pine" was alittle too red for my liking, so the second and third coat are "Puritan Pine". It darkened it a little more and took out the Reddish tint.
To protect it, I'm going with two coats of Boiled Linseed Oil, top and bottom.
I've said it before, but the reason I'm having to replace my wood is that 25 years ago, I sanded and stained it, and then put Marine Varnish on to protect it.
The varnish met all the moisture trapped so it couldn't breath, and eventually rotted from underneath.
The BLO wil protect without sealing and it'll turn a little darker over time, from sun exposure.

[jeffahart]

I used tung oil on southern yellow pine. I didn't stain it just let it do it's thing on the patina. The truck lives outside and the bed gets used. The oil is real low maintenance... good choice! You can check out the original oiling, and what it looks like a year later.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=7659407


j

[crakarjax]

I'm staining, I am not a fan of stripping failing coatings! I'm going to use Armstrong Clark Hardwood Transparent, just not sure whether to go mahogany or amber yet...

[Jose's 69]

I used a pine kit. Burned the grain and gave it 3 coats of semi gloss spar urethane. Painted the bottom and sides with rustoleum high heat bbq paint.

[old51sedan]

Originally Posted by Jose's 69

I used a pine kit. Burned the grain and gave it 3 coats of semi gloss spar urethane. Painted the bottom and sides with rustoleum high heat bbq paint.

Now that' a different approach. Really sets it off too. I take it that you just went over it lightly with a small propane torch, then sanded it? I like it.

[crakarjax]

Yeah that grain looks really cool singed! I'm using this end sealer on my boards
http://amzn.to/2ywRIt5

And I heard this stuff is the best for oiling, it's made for hardwood and penetrates without creating a hardened film on the surface -- formulated for really dense hardwoods with interesting resinous properties:
http://amzn.to/2z5jEl1

[custom10nut]

The new beds that are shown are awesome! I do like the fired look but I don't have a torch big enough for the job.
Any suggestions on where to start installing the new wood?
Outsides, working back and forth, with the two thinner boards last is what I'm going to do. Am I right?

[Old_Gold]

Yup, that is the approach I used also. For the last strip or two, you will need a helper on the opposite side, or use something heavy to hold the carriage bolts down while you get the nuts started. Anxious to see it installed!

Jim

[AussieinNC]

Originally Posted by crakarjax

I just picked up some tigerwood today for my bed -- looks great but I got 3/4" and I'm worried that it might be too flexible. How thick is your wood?

Tigerwood is plenty stout enough...good luck cutting the reliefs in it for the metal strips...make sure you have nice sharp tools...

post pics for us...

[custom10nut]

Yup, you need a good set of woodworking tools. If it's dimensional lumber you won't need a planer or joiner, but you will need a table saw with dado blade set.
It also helps to have an assistant to help feed the board through the saw.
After that I measured and made templates for the counter sunk washers.
As I said it takes a few woodworking tools that would be cost inhibitive for one time use.
The reason I cut my own is that I already have all the tools.

[crakarjax]

Originally Posted by AussieinNC

Tigerwood is plenty stout enough...good luck cutting the reliefs in it for the metal strips...make sure you have nice sharp tools...

post pics for us...

My carbide miter saw blade and router bits didn't seem to have any problem at all with this stuff, it's hardness is in between oak and ipe I believe. I did finish the area around the tubs but didn't get any pics, I'll have to post those up later