lot's of questions about bed wood... some ?s some As

[Senator350]

So... does anyone have anything unique? I'd bet that there are enough nice beds on the board to warrant a contest. I'd love to see them! Mines aways seem to be long fleet's. I swear it's not compensation...

I imagine you can buy kits, and probably fancy ones. is there much variation?

What are you guys using for wood?


I have noticed a couple people talking about oil/size/species/durability
Here's a couple thoughts on the subject...

Teak has got to be one of the best woods you can use. I have built with teak for exposed environment flooring (and also composites, ash, mahogany, pine, etc...) and it is the hands down choice. It is tremendously oily, so much so that it can't be stained.

It exponentially harder than oak, maple, and anything else you're going to find in a kit or in the Depot

I talked with a couple classic boat restorers and builders to find out the ultimate finish for teak, and also one of the very few products that actually adheres to it, and found it's Epifane

The companies that provide exotic decking supply it, and can just as easily get the boards milled to many different sizes.

As far as coloring/coating the wood... plenty of companies have plenty of options for flat/satin/glossy in all sorts of colors. I like the premium Corbet products. Sand the wood first, always with the grain, and use a conditioner so the wood stains evenly. A urethane finish is plenty hard, but you're probably not going to get as hard as Epifane on teak.

The fumes are never fun.