The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop '53 AD - Ipe wood for the bed.. interesting

I found this information in a post here:


http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal...39&page=2&perpage=5&reverse=


rodders Bulletin Board > Journal > willys36 Journal

I had a problem deciding what kind of wood to use for the bed. In my 1990 restoration I used yellow southern pine. Tried to keep it varnished but it quickly split, cracked, warped and turned ugly gray. You can see some shots of it in later posts here. Oak is another popular option but it seems to go bad very quickly too, regardless of the car it is given. I finally decided to try Ipe, a Brazilian hardwood used for outdoor decking.

http://www.ipe-deck.com/

15 years ago this stuff was a nuisance plant that the Brazilians knocked down and buried. These are probably the photos you see of them 'destroying' the rain forest - this stuff grows so fast and so huge it takes over the forest and must be eradicated. It is what the Atlantic City Board Walk is made of. it has in recent years become very popular for patio construction. It is so dense it sinks in water, has the same fire rating as concrete, contains a yellow resin that kills insects and is super stable once cured. It is so heavy, I should have great traction in my old truck! Cost is similar to oak.

Photo 1 is a picture of one of the boards. This board is 13" wide which is common. You can see the yellow stuff in the grain.

This should avoid the degradation that pine or oak experience. Claims are that this stuff will last at least 100 years on an outdoor deck! If left untreated, it will weather to silver gray but not split/splinter and decay like common woods. I am going to try to keep the red/brown color by finishing it with a UV protection oil coating like http://www.penofin.com/products_exotichardwood.shtml Ads say a coat every 6 months or so will maintain fresh color. I'll believe it when I see it!

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Anyway.... I thought it was interesting. Another option to consider when redoing the bedwood.

-W

That is what will be going in my truck when it gets to that point. It is so dense that it is difficult to finish. Oil will not penetrate to seal it.

Some of the CA folks may know this stuff. Was in the San Bernardino mountains cutting wood years ago and ran across what my buddy said was Ironwood. Lives up to its name as it was a bear to cut a few pieces to try burning. Put a decent log size piece on the fire one night and three days later it was still slow burning. Wouldn't recommend it for bedwood.

don't know what ya found, Bruce, but yer buddy gave ya a misnomer - true Ironwood only occurs in the Sonoran desert - got a chunk on the desk beside me - makes excellent pistol grips, and if you can find a piece big enuff, gunstocks

Bill

Woogeroo - You are correct Ipe would make an excellent bed wood. But a few things you should know. As train driver said it's very dense and does not take finish very well, also it's hard on your tools. You'll have to use carbide tipped cutters for milling your wood, and when you are done they will have to be sharpened.

I think you will find that it may be hard to keep that nice brown color, even with some sort of finish it may well turn grey. The Penofin you mentioned might the best bet for a finish.

I'd say go for it, It will look good.

george

Can't say for sure what this wood was, just going by what my buddy said and the fact that the stuff was hard and dense as anything I'd ever seen. This stuff even looked like iron once you got cut through it. The piece that burned so long was approximately 16 in. long and 10 in. or so across and really heavy for the size. If I remember right it had a loose kinda "scaley" bark on it. This was at about 10,000 ft or so and cold and snow every year so may noot have been true ironwood. Would definitely been a nice wood if you had the tools and knowledge to work it.

I have built a number of decks from Ipe and it is great stuff for outdoor applications. It is completely different from the "desert ironwood" that grows in this country. It is very heavy and needs carbide tools, but otherwise is easy to work. Lots of deck forums have advice on keeping it look like varnished furniture wood, but nothing will last more than a year or so without recoating if it is in the sun and weather constantly. I recommend it highly.

I'm building a new deck for my flatbed right now with mahogany (just because I get it free from work) anyhow I'm thinking of using polyester fibreglass resin for the finish. Just hot coat it without the glass. I've got the resin sitting here in my shop so why not give it a shot, right? The way I do things, it could be eons before I get it done (my wife gets very exasperated)but I will let you know how it turns out.
David

I've just bought a 1963 GMC, and the original bed's rotted out.

Thinking of using Keruing wood to replace it; my boss uses it for the beds of our semi-trailers, so i can get it thru my work.

Have any of you guys used same, any comments for or against? Should be yellow pine I know, but that's not easily obtainable this side of the Atlantic.