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.

[coloradosean2009]

no need to finish teak. just a light coat of oil on occasion... if you want.

[Fitz]

if you have the brass to paint your hood like this:

Then Oak, Teak, Walnut etc in the bed just won't do. I used Purpleheart cause it matches the black cherry candy on the front!

[Senator350]

Sorry for shooting down the first response, but oiling doesn't do much for longevity or durability, it's more of a visual choice (and some expensive tung oil)

a plain oiled teak will interact with most metals, leaving seriously hideous dark "stains". A normal wood brightener will pretty mush was those metal stains away, but still not really a durable or protective coating.

only a varnish on a native hardwood or a more complex multiple compound finish are going to give that mirror finish and protection from UV, oils, etc..

[Senator350]

Fitz, is the seat set up to fully let the OL do the driving?

and in a totally hetero-way... nice wood, dude! I've never seen purpleheart used before, just rough sawn. It's definately rain forrest wood. Anyone buying central/south american wood, check for FSC. FSC means it's not a rainforrest that got leveled, but farmed trees. Which includes the most available teak, (Brazillian teak) Cumaru

[Sillyoldman]

Not a great pic but here's the pine bed in my '71. I did a stock resto but did not want o paint the wood. My '63 has a oak kit w SS strips and fasteners waiting for it.