Exotic wood beds

[Gray Ghost]

First, I'll ID the woods....

Blazer1970....that's Oak with a dark stain
Mnunn454...Maple [the first one], Oak [the blue one]
Ricks1971...Mahogany
N2trux....Soft Maple [the first one], Quilted Big leaf Maple and Curly Mahogany combined.

I have a friend who is an exotic wood dealer here in Dallas. I was toying with several ideas and was going to offer wood bed kits in Ipe, but you can't get 1x8's and glue ups aren't easy with that wood over time [they split easily BTDT] I use it on high end decks quite often....built 7 this year alone.

Paduak will change color very quickly. Try Bloodwood instead....same basic color but a little more stable. The prices above for cocobolo and bubinga are way high from what I can tell.

I am about to do a stepside kit for a friend in Southern Yellow Pine. Once I get this one done I will probably start offering kits in various wood types. This will not be my only job but I do want to work at home in the woodshop more often. At first the kits will be unfinished only, later on who knows....depends on the interest.

The best woods for our truck beds are Domestic White Oak and Brazilian Ipe or Teak. These three woods last forever outside with proper care. Almost any other wood can be tamed for the bed though. Ipe is the best by far becuase of it's makeup. It has a very high silica content and is impervious to water....doesn't even float!

The key is sheltering your finished wood from UV rays. NOTHING is more destructive. I plan on keeping mine under a tonneau or other cover when not driving it [once it's finished] so the Texas sun doesn't bake it. For bare beds, use at least 7 coats of Spar Urethane Varnish [Minwax is good]...more if you are spraying it instead of brushing. Teak oil works well for Teak and other hardwoods but it fades awfully fast in the sun.

If there's anyone who would like to do the job yourself and just need some advice feel free to email anytime, I'd be happy to help you find the best deal on your wood no matter where you live. I have a bunch of friends all over the US who do all types of woodworking and they know the best places to buy wood.

[Warren]

some of the high end car builders use high end clear coats from automotive base coat clear coat. Dupont, Glasurit, etc.

Probably not good with some woods because of their oils, I know with certian woods when gluing boards edge to edge that they can be wiped with high quality lacquer thinner and they will glue but not sure you could do this to a wood before a clear coat. There are also higher end epoxies as well, what I used on a home restoration when I asked was above the West Systems stuff, they specifically recommended that I use it.

Guys are using Automotive clear finish on burl dashes and different wood for Rolls and other restortaions. I think that is the highest end of the clear coats but not sure if that is a good choice. Whatever you use be sure to finish both sides and the edges and end grain, finish it all around everywhere. I think one of the manugacturers aslo makes a clear coat with less gloss and flattening pastes can be added to reduce gloss as well if you prefer less sheen.

Will ask some of the car builders if they have had any failures with automotive clear coat. One did a model T Truck and it had as much wood as metal but I think that one has only been insides since it was built.


Warren

[Ricks1971]

Kelly, The wood I posted is not Mahogany its apitong, kind of looks like
Mahogany but most of your semi flatbeds trailers use this wood. It weathers great and looks really nice when finished and its easy to work with.

Rick

[68 P.O.S.]

Which is considered a good dense wood? I would like to use a heavy wood to add a little extra weight under the rear wheels.

[Warren]

I am not up on specific gravities but they are listed for all woods probably IPE is the heaviest of those woods, kind of like Lignum Vitae.

White oak is very heavy, same with hickory and teak I think should be simliar. I remember machining teak years ago for a friend and it trashed my knives. The tree sucks up silica sand when it grows then that put little chips in the knives. Not an issue if you use carbide knives.

Red oak is lighter than white oak, cherry and walnut a bit lighter but it depends on the wood and where the tree grows, the michigan oak will be heavier than the pennsylfannia oak usually but if a tree grows on a hill and one at the bottom usually they will be different with the one on the hill growing slower with closer growth rings because less water.

We should all be planting trees when we can, not only cause we use them up but they filter tha air, I think a 60 foot tree can filter a ton of pollution per year and you never have a filter to throw away or change, even K & N havent figured that one out yet.


Warren

[Already Gone]

ttt

[Gray Ghost]

I planted 12 pines last year and will plant 12-15 more this year on our little .25 acre. You are right about planting trees and their effect on pollution.

The densest of all woods readily available and relatively inexpensive is Ipe [or Pao Lope if that's what you have in your area instead of Ipe]. It's so dense it doesn't float in water.

[barthmonster]

Here is the link to the clearcoated wood:

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/Photos-clears4.htm

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com...20cabinets.jpg

I'm guessing nothing else can touch the resistance to sun and UV damage like a high-quality clear. I'll keep you posted.

Anyone used classicparts.com for their wood ??

How about www.bedwoodandparts.com ??

[Gray Ghost]

I'll bet that's expensive...that said I bet it would hold up very well outdoors with that coating.

[special-K]

The woods that weather best have the least feature in the grain.If you cosider the use,many won`t need a good weathering wood.If it`s stored inside most of the time and/or a tonneau or hard cover is used.The biggest concern would be the underside when caught in the rain.I won`t decide on the exact wood until I get ready for paint on my project(s).
As far as color-matched finishes go,you can thin out your body paint to create a stain.I am considering this and leaving the wood "open".As in no sealer other than maybe an oil.Depending on how refined my paint is (satin or shiney) I`m considering a weathered look that I can still haul stuff on.I`m thinking "casual" will be my truck`s attitude when done.I love those cabinet-grade bed floors.I just think mine will more of a nut`n`bolt restored DD.

[jkaylor68gmc]

I know thta flamed bed, it belongs to brian jacobs. He designs high end wood interiors for private jets. I wrote the feature on his truck 3 or 4 months ago. I believe there are 100 seperate peices.

[Warren]

so is that one marketry where they are a bunch of veneers cut and joined then put on a core material and glued on with a press, kind of what I thought when i looked at it rather than solid which all the others were..

Warren

[rlm316]

Thanks for all the replys. When I make my choice I will post some pics of the wood.
This is my second restoration, my first was a '65 Lemans convertable that I finished about 15 years ago which I still own. I have learned a few lessons from that car and one is try and make everything as low maintenance as possible and the other is coat everything with clear! We usually have about a 70-80* temperature swing throughout the year and if you don't have a heated garage everything will dew up in a damp/humid day and either flash over with rust or swell. The sole reason for the build of this truck is to work on and show it with my son. This will be his truck, so I want him to enjoy the experience and I don't want to worry about if the truck needs to be torn back down later to revisit something that could be avoided. Hopefully we can create a beautiful truck, spend some quality time together and I can teach him pride in workmanship and maybe he will apply it to everything in his life.

[Gray Ghost]

Very cool....I'd have given anything if my father had done that with me. As it was he thought I was nuts wanting to change anythging on a car or truck. He'd roill if he saw what I just did to the old truck [recent motor swap].

Hope you have a great time with your son and also that he learns a ton about value. I learned that from my dad as well as the ever present 'don't ever do anything half a__'.

[rlm316]

Thanks Kelly. Same here, my Dad couldn't understand when I did my car. Hopefully my Son will have a lot of great memories to last his life and learn a few things along the way. I think he is going to love this, everything he gets he tears apart to see how it works. He just needs a little help with the put back together right now.
Lane

[ChevLoRay]

Got a nephew who restored a '60's era cabin cuddy cruiser, and used teak for the flooring inside the aluminum-hulled boat. With an oiled finish, it's beautimous.


So, what about using teak and an oil finish. If it works in a marine environment, why not in a truck bed?

[67L30WGN]

Just to be clear. Epoxy, such as the West System by Gudgeon Bros., is good for sealing and filling wood grain, but it does not hold up to UV and will become yellowed and milky with time. You must cover the epoxy with a UV protective varnish to maintain the clear finish. Oily woods such as teak should be wiped down with acetone or lacquer thinner prior to sealing. This is how it is done on boats.