Bed wood finish

[CJ2A]

Received my Mar-K oak bedwood today

I wanted to reach out and hear some bedwood finish experiences & results

I am considering just linseed oil ? Any advise, expensive parts to just experiment with.

[The Rocknrod]

In our FAQ section there are many links to threads covering this topic - https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=646002
Bed Wood:
Post your Bed Wood/Metal - Customized/Modified or Stock
Black wood beds!!!! Pics Please : September 2011
1965 wood bed floor - DIY : September 2014
Wood Bed Patterns
Making My Own Bed Wood-Equal Width Boards?
64 C10 bed issues : May 2014
replies include various photos of the bed wood, strips, etc., on a fleetside bed.
64 C10 bed issues : May 2014
questions and answers about bed fitment, with photos
Synthetic Wood Bed Install / short stepside : October 2013
Milling bed wood
Bed wood stain color
Wood Bed Finishing 101
Bedwood/bed floor ideas and pictures
Wooden bed replacement ideas??
What size wood for bed on a 61
External Links to information related to bed wood:
This tech article is from vendor GMC Pauls : GMC Pauls - Bed Wood Info Page
This tech article is from forum vendor Classic Heartbeat(on the forum as Classic artbeat) : Classic Heartbeart - bed wood info

[vin63]

Depending on how you use your truck and how much it is exposed to the elements (including temperature and humidity swings in your region), linseed oil may work well.

I went with Mar-K's pine kit since my truck went over my weight goals. I did a flame burnish then a red mahogany stain. I finished it with satin marine urethane. In my case, I wanted something that was as close to maintenance-free as possible.

[hank scorpio]

The guy who does all the cabinet finishing on our block has also done a bunch of wood beds apparently. He sprayed these in a 2 part epoxy based clear coat (I'll have to ask the specific brand) for me:


That's just 3/4" bamboo that I cut and grooved

Put my child labor force to work helping install all 3 million bolts

I ended up running a 2000 grit Mirka Abralon pad over the pieces to take full shine off some. It was so glossy that it just showed every mark. Now that's a bit duller I don't as bad throwing stuff back there:


Anyways, a 2k urethane would work just fine if you're ok mixing and spraying. For a good sealer base I'd recommend the non UV version of PSP-934 from Henzten (you can get it from www.tcpglobal.com ). It's a non-yellowing outdoor rated sealer specific for wood use. The only reason I didn't use it is I didn't have a booth long enough for spraying my bed parts.

[Greenlee]

I did my bed about 6 years ago in yellow pine with stain and spar varnish. I was happy with it, but after using it as a truck and it getting rained on occasionally it was starting to look pretty bad in some areas. Now I just wipe linseed oil on it every few months. That seems to work pretty well. It’s not a show finish, but it looks pretty good and it’s protected.

[The Rocknrod]

That wood looks like some kind of laminate.

[jayoldschool]

Classic truck with lots of cool tube amps... that is no problem at all.

[hank scorpio]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

That wood looks like some kind of laminate.

It’s bamboo. I use it for a product line I make, it’s 3/4” thick 4x8 sheets, 3 layers with middle as a cross band. Solid bamboo for all three layers. It’s reasonably priced and very strong and durable. Low environmental impact and easy to work with. Thought it would make great bedwood and one sheet basically did the entire bed. Cut and milled for the rails on my CNC.

I was thinking about using thermotreated maple or poplar, it’s extremely popular for architectural millwork as it’s damn near impervious to the elements but I could find any supplier with the widths I needed (with out commiting to having them do a special run for me). It’s got a lot of possibilities though as it requires little to no finish and can be exposed to the elements.