The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed bed wood tech tip info

Bed Wood Tech Tip info from a Mar-K Tech Tip that seems to has disappeared with Mar-K:

Apply on unfinished bed wood:

Three coats of POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint as a seal coat and three coats
of Behr gloss black enamel.

The finish has dulled slightly, but is still very glossy and has sealed well.

The finish has lasted much better than the first test series (that post/report has also disappeared?) in which
they used Behr primer and top-coated with the same Behr gloss black enamel.

Even though POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint is not specified for wood by the
manufacturer, it appears to be an effective primer if it is coated with a quality
topcoat paint.

If you plan to paint your bedwood, this finish system should be
considered as it is very durable and easy to apply.

Tim, I don't think that was actually ever a tech tip here on Stovebolt, but possibly there was a link to Mar-K's website, which is now defunct, since they've gone out of business.

But thanks for bringing that up and posting it here.

Did you brush this on? Also, did you paint the metal strips, and bolt heads too? I assume that you painted the wood before the bed was assembled, is that corrrct?

Bed wood should be painted before assembly, so you can get all 6 sides of each board fully coated with whatever you use. If possible, drill the mounting holes in the outer boards that go under the angle strips and get the holes coated also. Metal strips should also be painted - they were black enamel originally, with the angle strip painted body color. Bolts were originally cadmium or zinc plated.