The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Sooo many choices to expand upon!

I was listening to a home improvement talk show Saturday and they were discussing Pine floors. The caller was complaining about the gaps between the boards and wanted to find a filler for them. The moderator was telling the caller that the Pine swelled across the grain much more than hardwood and that any filler would just be forced out in the summer time when the humidity increased. Now anyone that has been around for any length of time knows that wood absorbs moisture and will expand across the grain in the humid weather and shrink in the winter when things dry out. Just wondering how much of a factor this is with the pick up bed. Also quarter sawn might not warp as bad but not be as strong as face sawn, any thoughts on that??

My 1950 pickup still has the original bed wood and other than a couple spots where the boards have had a sharp heavy load dropped on them are in pretty solid condition. The surface grain is raised a little on the boards but they look good under that. I believe that if I ran them through the planer and took a sixteenth or so off that they would be quite presentable. I cut two 1.5” plugs out over the upper bolts when I replaced the shocks, which I covered with aluminum plugs that I spun up on the lathe. This gave me a good cross sectional view of bed wood and its grain. But enough about that!

Somthing else I was wondering about this morning was whether Oak might be a better choice for bed wood. I was talking to a local hardwood storeowner and White Oak was what he recommended as a replacement, probably cuz he sold hardwood and not pine. Our sponsor sells both Yellow Pine and Red Oak bed board kits. I always thought the reason for using the hardwoods was simply because some people want to finish the bed rather than paint it. The choice of bed wood pretty much runs the full gamut of woods from coniferous trees to the most exotic tropical hardwoods. I’ve seen old English garden benches made of Teak, which would really hold up good to the weather but probably would not take to much punishment. I’ve been reading about the gates of St. Peter's at Rome, which stood for 1,100 years, these were made of Cypress a beautiful wood for a bed. Old Iron Sides built in 1798 and still in commission is made of Southern Live Oak a very close relative to White Oak. Although Cherry, Maple and Walnut are beautiful woods I doubt if they could stand up to the elements.
I suppose it all depends on how you are going to use the truck. A trailer queen would probably wear a bed of Zebrawood, Maple or Cherry for many years if kept inside. A daily driver to and from the office and used to move the collage kids in and out of the dorm a couple of times a year might do just fine with a nice Golden Oak bed. Then there is the guy that is actually gonna continue to work his old gal well into her old age hauling a load of grain, gravel or hay, and to this end might just be better off with plain old Southern Yeller Pine painted black!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I live on the "Wet" Coast of British Columbia.

My bed boards are made from tongue & groove cedar and stained black. The nominal dimension of the boards are 3/4" thick x 5 1/4" wide. [ it is not original and the average person doesn't even know]

I carry topsoil, gravel, garden debris and anything fellas normally would carry in a pick up truck and being reasonable with payload capacity.

Cedar is very durable in harsh environments.

Lots of truck beds look like fine pieces of furniture and I am positive the owners are reluctant to place anything within the bed.

How are you planning to use your truck after your restoration?

That would help narrow down your choices Denny.

Greg

I don't hear any mention of the use of Ash. I have used it on a couple of my wood bodied vehicles with good success. It's a hardwood that machines well and is moderatly priced for a hardwood. But I think how our trucks are going to be used is the key. If it's a show truck that will never see rain or have anything carried in the bed a beautiful exotic wood is fine. For those of us that use a truck to haul, Good clear pine with both sides and ends sealed and painted should last as long as the wood we are presently replacing has lasted, in most cases 40 to 50 years.

Oh, I decided long ago what the bed is gonna be, I'm gonna use Yellow Pine for mine Greg, I'm doing an original frame up restoration.
I was just thinking about the expansion of the different woods this morning and one thought just lead to another, on and on. The only thing that I would like to eliminate is the cupping of the boards, probably imposable to do completely.
Cedar being one of the softest of woods sounds like it would be a little too soft for practical everyday use. How’s your bed wearing? I’ll bet its impressed by every stone that ever blessed its surface.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

You are correct, cedar is soft, but so is pine. However, my cedar is holding up very well. I do have impressions in the wood. I would think most wood, when transporting rocks would have scaring, dimples and impressions.

Normally, I place a tarpaulin down when hauling dirt, gravel or sand....I am more concerned with the damage done by my rake or shovel. If I carry metal or heavy stones,I put down a sheet of plywood.

Cedar is a wonderful wood to use in wet weather conditions. You never see folks use pine for roof shingles. It is also used for outdoor decks which are subject to high wear and extreme weather conditions.

Greg

actually you can find southern yellow pine shingles, I think it's the only other wood currently used

and it's durability and straight grain, as well as ready availability in the manufacturing areas, is why the factory used it

good quality cedar is readily available on the wet coast, but so is good fir, which is what I've used

the cupping is due to breakdown of the finish, allowing differential moisture absorbtion, and the space between the boards [covered by the skid strips] is how the factory took care of the expansion problem

Bill

We milled Sugar pine and Ponderosa pine for years at our plant. Our parent company bought a sawmill in Texas where they saw Southern Yellow Pine...we tried milling this species too!

On a scale of 1 to 10, Kryptonite being 10, then Southern Yellow Pine would be a 9.99! It's dirt cheap and tougher than boiler plate...I think that's why it was used for bedwood.

Stuart

Pine held up well on old black truck, I sealed all sides & painted the top. It was used as a truck, it saw scrap metal, firewood, rocks, etc.

I would recommend quarter-sawn white oak. No question white oak is more durable than the more common red oak, and being quartersawn, it will be far less likely to warp or cup. Many boat builders would make their bulkheads/transoms, etc out of white oak because it was so stout. Ash is also a good choice and can have interesting grain/color. At our mill, ash is less $ than Oak (red or white). Quartersawn material will look pretty unique as the grain all runs parallel to the long dimension of the lumber. Too uniform for some, but really more stable.

lobo, the problem that pops into mind with quarter sawn oak is you can snap it in half over your knee. I don't think it would be able to take any kind of a load with out spliting. That's why they use face sawn lumber for load bearing members.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Quarter saw white oak is very expensive and would not be a good choice. Denny is correct flat sawn would be better. White oak is the better choice as the wood is closed cell and is more water resistance than the red oak woods that are open cell . They used white oak on Old Iron Sides (USS Consititution) for both stength and water durability as well as many other reasons.

Southern yellow pine properly sealed, stained or painted would be cheaper than oak and properly finished can still look very good. I like oak for its strength and grain beauty, but if I'm using it every day, I wouldn't feel as bad about "dinging" up some yellow pine as I would compared to oak. Personally, just go with your budget, your usage, and be happy with it. Just my two cents.

Hey farmboy, you anywhere near Gray, IA? That's where my '50, 3604 resided for 54years.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

You can minimize cupping if you put the "bark" side of the boards so that they face up. So that the end grain looks like the frown on the graemlin.

Sure, 49'er, but then ya got crowning!!!

I just went out and checked the original yellow pine bed boards in my '50 and they are crown side up.

Come to think of it, what direction does Mar-K rout their boards?? Sooo many questions and sooo little time to ask them!!!!

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL