The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Bed Wood Finish

Dropped some cabinet grade pine off today to get cut to size and routed, have read previous posts on different finishes and have a couple of questions. What is lamp black? Anyone use linseed oil? I am looking for a finish I don't have to repair often, as this is a daily driver I do use it to haul things, any suggestions welcome.

Why use cabinet grade wood?Why not outdoor treated lumber or better yet the plastic recycled decking board.This stuff is forever an no maintance.

The cabinet grade southern yellow pine I got was $50.00 I don't think I could get any other cheaper and the yellow pine is what was in it originally, plastic in an all metal truck, I don't think so!

I like linseed oil outdoors because it penetrates good and you don't have to do much with it if you're not looking for a fancy finish; just wipe off the excess and let it soak in and dry. I've never used polyurethane in this kind of an application, but it's really tough, sheds water good, and might work well. I did my bed in spar varnish but I was looking for a show finish, and it turned out great. Linseed oil would probably be best...you could just re-coat it from time to time.

got the wood at a nice price.the spar varnish will look great.but the linseed oil will be fine .I used linseed oil on gun stocks and they turned out real sharp.just have to rub like hell

there's an oil made for outdoors. Mc Clousky (sic)
makes it. Called Out Door Oil. It has UV protection and is just wipe on like lindseed oil. Woodcraft has it online and in their stores. Lampblack is just fine carbon particles.
Use something made for out doors or the wood will turn grey due to the UV rays, but you may want that. Lots of options.

John
Wichita Forest Woodworks

Thaks John I will check that out, I was thinking of useing any oil based ebony stain like minwax would that work with the outdoor oil?

jim

The bed in my new '50 (as well as the box on my '46 grain truck) both have that grey washed out look.. the '46 will get a new stake bed one of these days, and i've decided i'd like the yellow pine in the bed of the '50.

I don't like putting recycled plastic in my trucks anymore than I like driving recycled japaniese beer cans, altho the durability and longevity of that stuff would probably be far greater than original style wood.. but then again, so would a big ole sheet of diamond plate welded in there.

I used Minwax polyerathane on my 70 stepside & don,t really like it. Even though it was clear it darkened the wood. I have used linseed oil on old weathered ones & it sealed up real good. I,m going to try deck preserver on the one i,m working on now. Has anyone used that. These are old slightly weathered bedwood.

The ebony stain would be fine. Just protect it with an out door finish on top. The polyurethanes are OK if they are specifically for out doors. A film finish (not a penetrating oil) needs to be flexable enough to expand and contract with the wood movement. A spar varnish will do that, but will eventually crack and will need to be sanded to refinish. A penetrating oil just needs another wipe-on coat to bring it back. Sun (UV) and wood movement (expansion and contraction) are the enemies of finishes in the out of doors. I have used deck stains, varnish, polyurethanes, and oils for my out door furniture and like the oils best. Tung oil, lindseed oil, and my favorite Mc Clusky's out door oil, are easy to apply, easy to refinish and look good. The more coats the more shine. They are soft so you'll have to recoat more often due to scratches but it's easy to do.

John

When I redo My bed I plan on useing Linseed oil. These are the instructions that on old handyman's book had for a work shop bench. Apply general amounts of linseed oil once a day for a week. Once a week for a month. Once a Month for a year and once a year or as needed after that.

Of course I plan on using my truck as a truck. Hauling dirt, gravel and what ever needs to be hauled.

Good luck,

Rockler has a good out door oil on sale this month in their flyer. General Finishes makes it. Good company for wood finishes. $7.99 QT. They are also featuring LYPTUS wood. I plan to use it to redo my bed.
Thought you guys would like to know. Check out our June newsletter it's featuring Rockler.
(I don't work for them but use them alot.)

John