The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Bed wood finish

Not long ago someone posted on here a finish proceedure for bed wood. It used multiple coats of POR 15, followed by multiple coats of latex enamel from Home Depot, Behr I think. I went out and bought the products to do this. Before I get started, I'd just like to know if any of you on this forum have used this to finish your wood, and how it worked out for you. Thank you.

following this post and I have seen the por 15 and behr post as well .I think someone said the mix was on a display piece at the old Mar K shop and it has lasted well but I am surprised that there have been no response from Mikes request .I was going to use this as well but I could not bring myself to paint the oak I used black .I ended up using a Cetol stain

I thought POR-15 was not good in the sunlight, but painting over it fixes that? I'll be installing new wood this summer and not sure about process to seal the boards. I'll need to do some researching.

Por-15 is not UV resistant so it needs a top coat of something to protect it from the sun.

Would be interesting to see if anyone has tried this and what there thoughts are about its durability

You guys are obsessing about durability and longevity of a finish on beds that aren't going to be used for serious hauling, are never going to sit out in the rain, and won't even see the sun all that much.

You could put a slap dash paint job on the bed wood and it will still outlive all of you. POR-15 with a topcoat is overkill for no real benefit.

Prime it and paint it with a good oil base porch paint and you'll never have to worry about it for the rest of your life.

On my 2 panels ,the wood was in excellent shape. 2 sheets of marine grade plywood. I POR 15 and top coated with
Rustoleum. Then the marine varnish on top of that. Turned it a black/greenish.
Now thats 70 year old wood that I hope will be around another 70 years.

Mike, I was at Mar-K when we did the wood finish testing starting about 2005 and that is probably the procedure you refer to. Also, I used this finish sequence when I built my truck a few years later. I will tell you a little about my experience with it. My truck is not coddled, the bed is not covered and I have driven it from coast to coast and border to border in rain or shine since 2016. The finish has held up well.

As I recall, in the tests we used 3 coats of POR15 followed by 3 coats of the glossy Behr black trim paint. Unfortunately the Mar-K site no longer exists so this is from memory. Here are things to keep in mind based on my experience. I am not a wood finish expert, but this worked for us.

1. Very important to observe the POR15 dry time window for applying successive coats. When fully cured, POR15 is hard like glass and paint won't stick to it

2. I had best luck brushing the POR15. Spraying tended to form bubbles and also didn't seem to penetrate as well. Roller might also be effective, but I did not try that.

3. The dry time window is fairly short, a few hours as I recall. Be sure to have all your supplies and procedure ready for three coats of POR15 and the first coat of house paint. A complete bed is a lot of wood surfaces and takes time to coat, and once you start if the POR15 gets too dry its a lost cause.

4. The mounting holes and ends of boards are especially important to get good penetration of the POR15. It tends to soak in quickly so keep those surfaces wet with paint.

5. Do not consider using the top coat paint that POR15 sells for this purpose. I tried it on my truck bed instead of the house paint. POR sells it, so what could go wrong? It did not stay shiny very long and I ended up sanding it off and recoating with the black house paint. It is still shiny after about 8-9 years.

6. My truck bed has developed 2 or 3 cracks, but the finish is still intact and not peeling off. One crack is from a bed to frame bolt hole and another from the end of the board. I have been caught several times in blinding rainstorms and the boards were probably submerged for a few hours each time.

If you can arrange it, I would suggest practicing the procedure on a small board similar to your bed wood before jumping into the complete bed wood finishing. It is extra work but I believe worth it so you will develop the procedure that works best for you.

I hope you report back after you do your bed wood finish, and let us know about your experience with it.

Mark