Bed Wood

[roger55]

I'm restoring my '57 3200 but intend to haul stuff in the back.

I've ordered my unpolished stainless strips and angles from Mar-K.

Has anyone ever just bought a 4'X8'X 3/4" sheet of high-grade or marine-grade plywood and put the strips directly on top?

Seems like it would be cheap, effective and look like individual pieces.

I've got a router so I could put in grooves but I'm not even sure that would be necessary.

[Speedbumpauto]

Thing is the bed is 50 1/2 inches inside. I used the plywood and dowled and glued two 1x1 strips on each side. Due to the way wood is measured, it added the 1 1/2 inches perfectly and you can't see it when installed because the angle strip covers it up when you bolt it down. The other thing is you can't put a whole peice in because of the way they made the bed angle strips. I had to cut mine in three pieces to install and covered the cuts with the bed strips. It worked out really well for me but it's not quite as easy as it seems.

[S10Fan]

I used oak plywood, no complaints at all. Mine were cut into 12" wide boards, saved me money on strips. LOL If you buy the plywood at Lowes or Home Depot they will cut it for you for a small fee.

[roger55]

Originally Posted by Speedbumpauto

Thing is the bed is 50 1/2 inches inside. I used the plywood and dowled and glued two 1x1 strips on each side. Due to the way wood is measured, it added the 1 1/2 inches perfectly and you can't see it when installed because the angle strip covers it up when you bolt it down. The other thing is you can't put a whole peice in because of the way they made the bed angle strips. I had to cut mine in three pieces to install and covered the cuts with the bed strips. It worked out really well for me but it's not quite as easy as it seems.

Thanks.
After measuring, I was already thinking along these lines.

Did you just put all the strips directly on top or did you use a router to cut lengthwise slots?

[roger55]

Originally Posted by S10Fan

I used oak plywood, no complaints at all. Mine were cut into 12" wide boards, saved me money on strips. LOL If you buy the plywood at Lowes or Home Depot they will cut it for you for a small fee.

Cool. Thanks. How about you did you just lay all your strips on top and bolt them down?

Btw, nice thing about living in a small town, HD will cut my lumber with no fee. They're supposed to do just one cut free and charge for more but most times they don't.
Only one cut is needed on this anyway.

[Midgets50]

what im planning on doing is laying a sheet of plywood or something then laying something like lumber liquidators has so i can have any style of finish on top. i found some really neat bambo tiger stripe stuff that im gonna get when i build my bed

[S10Fan]

Originally Posted by roger55

Cool. Thanks. How about you did you just lay all your strips on top and bolt them down?

I didn't add any grooves to the plywood, the strips lay on flat wood. It's been 4 years and everything is still as tight as it was when installed. I do need to replace my plywood though, not enough sealer/varnish on the edges, the wood is beginning to come apart. I take my cover off during the winter to protect the vinyl leaving the wood exposed. Custom cover $350.00, Plywood $40.00, no brainer. LOL

[Dodger]

There is a thread here somewhere that shows what you are talking about.

Someone used a router to section out some grooves in a one piece floor and the strips sat down level in them.

Looked really good and got me thinking I might do the same but for the life of me I can't find that thread for you. I'll keep looking because not finding it is going to annoy me now!
Posted via Mobile Device

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by S10Fan

I do need to replace my plywood though, not enough sealer/varnish on the edges, the wood is beginning to come apart.

this will be the problem with using plywood unless you use marine grade for docks and full exposure.
by the time you buy/find a 5'x9' sheet of marine grade plywood it would be cheaper to install a stock pine floor in your truck
stock bed wood was yellow pine painted black and it typically lasted 20 yrs or more before needing new wood
i don't see plywood lasting that long or looking good at all

you can use a router to grove the boards but it is a lot easier to use a table saw
2 cuts is all that is required for each edge



an option though not cheap is trex decking from hd
this is trex in my truk

[roger55]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

this will be the problem with using plywood unless you use marine grade for docks and full exposure.
by the time you buy/find a 5'x9' sheet of marine grade plywood it would be cheaper to install a stock pine floor in your truck
stock bed wood was yellow pine painted black and it typically lasted 20 yrs or more before needing new wood
i don't see plywood lasting that long or looking good at all
you can use a router to grove the boards but it is a lot easier to use a table saw
2 cuts is all that is required for each edge
an option though not cheap is trex decking from hd

Thanks. As was mentioned, for my '57 89" bed stepside, a 4'X8' could be made to work.

I like the looks of that Trex. Can you get 8" wide boards in it? What is the approximate cost if I could get six 8" by 8 ft boards?

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

stock bed wood was yellow pine painted black

Stock was Southern Pine which is much harder than yellow and western. It was also used for sailing ship masts and most of the large old growth was cut in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was also used for large timber warehouse, factory, etc. construction; anywhere you needed large long timbers. It is still available, the modern wood is cut relatively early in the trees life so the grain is not as tight. There are places back east that salvage the old wood from demolished buildings for reuse, it has a very tight grain.

[_Ogre]

dang it! called out by orrieg
again

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by roger55

Thanks. As was mentioned, for my '57 89" bed stepside, a 4'X8' could be made to work.

I like the looks of that Trex. Can you get 8" wide boards in it? What is the approximate cost if I could get six 8" by 8 ft boards?

trex only comes in 5/4x5.25''x16' for deck boards to copy the look of 5/4x6 deck boards
they have wider trim boards but it is 1/2'' thick
i used 9 boards and 8 bed strips to get the proper width
the only color i could get is grey but my local HD now carries grey, brown and tan

[roger55]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

trex only comes in 5/4x5.25''x16' for deck boards to copy the look of 5/4x6 deck boards
they have wider trim boards but it is 1/2'' thick
i used 9 boards and 8 bed strips to get the proper width
the only color i could get is grey but my local HD now carries grey, brown and tan

Thanks.

You say 5/4? So, that's 1.25"X5.25"X16' and you have buy 5 boards to make 9?

Can you give me an approximate cost per board? Looks like they don't give that info on their website that I could find.

[mechanixman]

*sorry about hijacking the thread*

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Stock was Southern Pine ....... It was also used for large timber warehouse, factory, etc. construction; anywhere you needed large long timbers.

Did people use it in barns?
Up here in Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin, we have collapsed barns all over the place that people sometimes reuse for furniture. I don't want to go all over the place looking for southern pine.

Thanks a bunch

[Leroy-B1]

I went to a local sawmill and bought 8 ft long 8 inch wide by 1 inch tall boards that are cypress it is used a lot in boat making and doesn't rot almost like cedar ... I got all my boards for 52 bucks and had two extra just a thought if you have a local sawmill.....juniper wood is also rot proof they say
Posted via Mobile Device

[mechanixman]

Thanks for the tip!

[fabguy]

Originally Posted by Leroy-B1

I went to a local sawmill and bought 8 ft long 8 inch wide by 1 inch tall boards that are cypress it is used a lot in boat making and doesn't rot almost like cedar ... I got all my boards for 52 bucks and had two extra just a thought if you have a local sawmill.....juniper wood is also rot proof they say
Posted via Mobile Device

I did something similar, went to a friend who is a furniture maker and bought 12 planks that were cut at the sawmill of "red gumm eucalyptus". These 3/4" planks look beautiful with the wood grains and tones and only cost me $50.00.
Which means I saved about 339.00 so far on the bed wood. Not sure if I should go with the polished stainless steel strips, or get the plain strips and have them powder coated to match my beige 2 tone.
Took to a buddy who does cabinets and he is going to cut down to size and cut the small side grooves into them. Then it's up to me to finish them. I am excited as this means I am that much closer to getting this Pick up back on the road.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by mechanixman

*sorry about hijacking the thread*

Did people use it in barns?
Up here in Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin, we have collapsed barns all over the place that people sometimes reuse for furniture. I don't want to go all over the place looking for southern pine.

Thanks a bunch

Doubtful, unless it was imported. You might be pleased to find they are maple or ash. I knew a guy in Arizona that had moved from Kansas. He was a woodworker and brought a whole trailer of black walnut he had gotten out of a house he salvaged. Beautiful large timbers, hard as heck, but was used in the 1800's because that was what grew in the area.

[coralhead]

Here is a picture of my home-worked wood bed. The tree was sawmilled by a friend and I did the rest of the planeing/cutting/grooving on a table saw. If you get sawmill wood make sure it is seasoned or it will shrink. Walnut w/stainless strips. My only cost was the $15 for the spar eurathane. The strips were gone in the first place so in needed strips and the wife wanted shiney stainless.

[mechanixman]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Doubtful, unless it was imported. You might be pleased to find they are maple or ash. I knew a guy in Arizona that had moved from Kansas. He was a woodworker and brought a whole trailer of black walnut he had gotten out of a house he salvaged. Beautiful large timbers, hard as heck, but was used in the 1800's because that was what grew in the area.

Well there is a lot of cedar in the area, I'll go out and see what I can find.

[OrrieG]

Here is a link to a chart that lists different species hardness rating so you can get something that will take some abuse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

[RootBeer 6117]

I pulled these pine boards out of the attic of a house built around 1900-1910. One of them is 16" wide, I might use them for the bed of my truck. The people that own the house are getting ready to demo it, there is also an old carriage house with the same width boards coming down.

[GMtrucknut!!]

I had a retired custom cabinet builder custom build mine . He had a pole barn filled with kiln dried lumber, walnut, oak , pine, birch etc. He only charged $125 and you had to spend some time chatting with him about the old days! Education on wood working and a savings in one !!