The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Ash for bedwood?

Anyone have any thoughts on using ash for making bedwood

I think ash would make for a beautiful bed. It is lighter than oak in color but has some similar properties. I saw an 81 chevy stepside that was done in birch and it made for a stunning bed. Go for it.----Jack

Truckernix ,on this site, built his flat bed out of ash and did a beautiful job.
http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/F...0307_zps3155c827.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

This is a pic in his profile pictures, hope he doesn't mind me posting it as it is worth showing off.
I have used ash to build doors and mouldings to match older woodwork in an old house I had. Nice to work with. Unfortunately the ash around here is being wiped out by the ash borer bugs.

Mark

Ash is a beautiful wood, but lacks decay resistance. If the truck is going to be stored out in the elements, I would not recommend using ash for bed wood.

Emerald Ash Borer sucks.

Actually they bite
Yes that is true but with the right inish it can be protected. I made a mail box from ash and used marine spar varnish on it and as far as I know it is still lasting. I guess it all depends on the use of the truck.

The ash would be treated with a por 15 base coat and then a coat of quality exterior black paint as i'm after the black bed wood look . Truck will see some elements but will be parked indoors when not in use .
Ash always treated me well as far as hockey sticks go

If that is your plan, I think it would be fine. It is actually cool to capture some soon to be rare wood species in an antique vehicle. I used white ash for the troop seats on my 41.

I would never use ash or oak for a truck that is to be used, and stored outdoors. IMO, wood is only for decorative/display purposes. If you want a be that is going to be functional and look good for a long time, it's got to be steel or aluminum.

Don't get me wrong - I love wood. It's my life. But I also recognize that it's not a universal answer. As with ANY project, determine what your objectives are first, and then begin to compromise. It's a rare project that doesn't have compromises of one sort or another...

I wonder how composite deck boards would look? I'm not sure if they would be strong enough for the span or thick enough but could be an option if your not planning on loading the bed up..

The pine boards that were in the truck when i got it were not really rotten although a few were broken . The reason for using ash is a friend has a bunch of it and it was offered for free.
I got a local cabinet maker out of jam so he's milling everything to size.
So i guess i'm just curious about it's ability to swell and contract with out splitting

Pine (or, probably any wood) will hold up fine if you treat the wood as described in the test that is being carried out by Mar-K:

POR-15 Black Rust Preventative Paint and BEHR Gloss Black exterior paint

I checked the black painted samples, still not failed after 10 years in the Oklahoma weather 24/7. They look the same as in the 2010 update in the link posted.

Thanks for the feed back
I'll try to update the ash bed wood and post some pics of the truck when i figure out posting pics

Mechanical properties of ash are much the same as red oak, so you should be fine. Ash does not check or crack excessively if coated with an appropriate UV protectant.

Trivia for the day: white ash was the exclusive framing lumber for Chevrolet body construction before all steel bodies came into being.

52_Ton,

Jim911 used composite decking. His bed looked pretty good and very useable. He might be able to send pictures. When i talked to him, the main issue that he had was the wideth of the composite boards.

Chris

my next bed will be TREX or something like it

http://www.trex.com/products/decking/