Bed Wood Recommendations

[Chaparralman1974]

Morning gang!

Well, I am now to the point where I can focus my attention on the bed floor. My plan was to go with pine and stain it black like it would have been originally. I am not one who thinks all bed wood floors needs to look like a bowling alley. :-)

I had initially planned on using Mar-K but now that they are out of business, it seems to be a bit difficult to find economically priced pine. I looked at bedwood.com and they have a nice product, but there is no way in hell I am paying $1105 for a pine bed floor. I have a longbed fleetside so with the boards being 97" long I apparently have to pay truck freight shipping.

I really don't want to cut the lumber myself.....first off, I suck at woodwork. Also, it is just not that much fun for me. I know some folks like doing it, and that is fine, but it is just not for me. I don't mind staining it, but I don't want to mill anything myself. The last time I attempted to use a radial arm saw, I nearly killed myself....but I digress.

Does anyone have any recomendations for me in the Phoenix, AZ area for bedwood? I would even drive a bit to go get it. Classic Industries wanted over $500 for shipping! That buys a fair amount of diesel to go get it myself.


Thanks, Clay

[binford]

cjponyparts.com

They don't give a quote on shipping online, but their price is not bad either.
you will need to call for a shipping quote 1-800-888-6473

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by binford

cjponyparts.com

They don't give a quote on shipping online, but their price is not bad either.
you will need to call for a shipping quote 1-800-888-6473

Yeah, I have looked at them as well. I wanted to stay with pine and it looks like they only have red oak and ash.

Clay

[Jason Banks]

Have not bought this - https://classicparts.com/1960-72-bed...fleet-97?qty=1

Price seems reasonable,not sure about shipping.

I had my cabinet maker friend make the last set I used... might talk to a couple cabinet shops. All the specs are available. They used to be on GMCPauls, since they recently redid their website they might still be.

[Jason Banks]

I forgot they had the standard grade for less - https://classicparts.com/chevy-gmc/t...-long-fleet-97

[Rust_never_sleeps]

Might see about poplar. It's a hardwood, but usually painted or stained Walnut or darker because it has green heartwood. Might not be the look you want, but it's tough and can be cheap

[pjmoreland]

If you are able to find a local source for southern yellow pine, then maybe you could buy the boards and then find a woodworker to cut it for you. Dimensions can be found here:

https://gmcpauls.com/pickup-bed-wood/

[MS66]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

If you are able to find a local source for southern yellow pine, then maybe you could buy the boards and then find a woodworker to cut it for you. Dimensions can be found here:

https://gmcpauls.com/pickup-bed-wood/

^^^

[Jason Banks]

https://youtu.be/4fUCnP9IkVI?t=868 video mentions using neighbor to cut bedwood in Peoria. Looked at google maps and there is a a cabinet maker in the same complex....

[Rich69shortfleet]

This source is one of the best I've found. He can do pine on request. You probably wouldn't like the price or shipping, but he was close enough for me to pick it up in person.

https://horkeyswoodandparts.com/

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

I forgot they had the standard grade for less - https://classicparts.com/chevy-gmc/t...-long-fleet-97

Hi Jason, yeah I looked at them as well, but due to the length of the boards, they wanted over $600 to ship to me.

I am really thinking that I will have to mill my own. Nobody close to me has reasonably priced pine for a longbed, and paying $800 or more for pine lumber boards is just crazy.


Clay

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Rust_never_sleeps

Might see about poplar. It's a hardwood, but usually painted or stained Walnut or darker because it has green heartwood. Might not be the look you want, but it's tough and can be cheap

I will take a look at poplar.....I was also looking at alder as well.

I really want to go with the stock black look and will be painting the rails black as well, so I didn't want to spend a ton of money on good wood just to stain it black.

Clay

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

https://youtu.be/4fUCnP9IkVI?t=868 video mentions using neighbor to cut bedwood in Peoria. Looked at google maps and there is a a cabinet maker in the same complex....

Thanks Jason! Yeah, they seem to be pretty close to me. I will give them a holler to see if they can lend some advice.


Clay

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

I will take a look at poplar.....I was also looking at alder as well.

I really want to go with the stock black look and will be painting the rails black as well, so I didn't want to spend a ton of money on good wood just to stain it black.

Clay

I paid $180 at a local hardwood store for red oak boards for my shortbed stepside.

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Rich69shortfleet

This source is one of the best I've found. He can do pine on request. You probably wouldn't like the price or shipping, but he was close enough for me to pick it up in person.

https://horkeyswoodandparts.com/

Thanks Rich, yeah they ship freight as well so I am going to assume that it is in the $600 range for shipping to me.

I know there are a few places in Nevada and Colorado.....It may be time to load up the camper and take a road trip. LOL!

Clay

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

I paid $180 at a local hardwood store for red oak boards for my shortbed stepside.

I have been calling around as well.....I found a place that has Maple reasonably priced as well. I may have to go that route. My Father in Law is a wood worker.....and I will probably just enlist his services. But, if I do then it will have to wait until it cools off.....July in Arizona is no fun to do any kind of work outdoors.


Clay

[MS66]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

I paid $180 at a local hardwood store for red oak boards for my shortbed stepside.

With millwork done ready to install, or just for the wood to take to a mill to be cut?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by MS66

With millwork done ready to install, or just for the wood to take to a mill to be cut?

That was just for the boards. I selected them out of a large pile of 8' boards at a local hardwood store. The pile had all sorts of random widths, and one edge of each board was rough and not cut straight. It took a decent amount of time to select boards that wouldn't result in a bunch of wasted material. I then took the boards to my dad's house, and we spent about six hours cutting them to length and width and adding the notches for the bed strips. We also planed them down to 3/4" because they were maybe 1/16" thicker than that. We used a router to cut the counterbores for the eight large carriage bolts with off-center washers.

Here are some posts from my build thread:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=360

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=495

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...854269&page=21

[MS66]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

That was just for the boards. I selected them out of a large pile of 8' boards at a local hardwood store. The pile had all sorts of random widths, and one edge of each board was rough and not cut straight. It took a decent amount of time to select boards that wouldn't result in a bunch of wasted material. I then took the boards to my dad's house, and we spent about six hours cutting them to length and width and adding the notches for the bed strips. We also planed them down to 3/4" because they were maybe 1/16" thicker than that. We used a router to cut the countersinks for the eight large carriage bolts with off-center washers.

Very nice! Thanks for the pics. Well worth the effort for a show quality bed.

[Rust_never_sleeps]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

I have been calling around as well.....I found a place that has Maple reasonably priced as well. I may have to go that route. My Father in Law is a wood worker.....and I will probably just enlist his services. But, if I do then it will have to wait until it cools off.....July in Arizona is no fun to do any kind of work outdoors.


Clay

IMHO, painting maple is a crime against humanity, but your f-i-l probably already told you that ;-)

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Rust_never_sleeps

IMHO, painting maple is a crime against humanity, but your f-i-l probably already told you that ;-)

Yeah, I agree with you 100% LOL!!


Clay

[notsolo]

Have you tried " RAH Lumber" says Pieora, AZ. $7.00 a board ft for least exotic varieties. You still need to mill it depending on their prices.

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by notsolo

Have you tried " RAH Lumber" says Pieora, AZ. $7.00 a board ft for least exotic varieties. You still need to mill it depending on their prices.

I have not...I will call them in the morning. Thanks for the lead! :-)


Clay

[pjmoreland]

I did a fair amount of shopping around when I was looking for wood. One major issue I ran into with most places was that they wouldn't let me select the wood myself. Instead, they would insist on selling me boards that were almost double the width that I actually needed. I got into a bit of an argument with one place over that. It is completely illogical. I was happy to find a place right in my town that would let me select my own boards.

[LS short box]

I lucked and got my bed wood from a guy that used to sell on this forum. He doesn't any more.
But one thing I did was not put the bolts that hold the box to the frame thru the wood. I used carridge bolts and clearanced the under side of wood for the bolt heads.
One more thought maybe use composite wood like deck boards since you are going to paint it anyway?
Pic of my 68.