The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Wood for 1/2 ton bed

I plan on doing my own bed wood for my truck that is a daily driver and occasional hauler of firewood, metal recycling, engine(s), in other words a semi-work truck. I've acquired Beech and Walnut rough cut lumber 2" thick by at least 80" long. I plan on having the rough cut milled and planed to 1" nominal 3/4" boards and have been quoted $20 to mill and plane 10 rough boards. Does anyone know the durability of Beech and Walnut compared to the traditional oak and southern pine that you can buy? I realize that the best protection is to paint, but I am considering going light/dark with the Beech (light)/ Walnut (dark) for my 9 boards with spar varnish to finish. Website for wood characteristics/properties?

Beech is a wood that is used a lot for handrails and interior peices that need a close grain and will paint and stain nicely. It's a wood which has good workability. If you have enough of the beech to do the floor, just use that. The Walnut is really a special wood (especially Black Walnut) that should be reserved for something nice, i.e. table or gunrack, clock etc. http://www.wood-worker.com/properties.htm#sectB
Try that one. K10

Cosmo-K 10 is right about the working properties of beech. Back when the common man's furniture was all wood, most chair spindles were beech. It is rare to find anything made of beech lumber such as table tops, dressers, desks, etc because the lumber warps and twists. If your bed wood is to be 5-7 inches wide, you will have to bolt it down pretty well to keep it flat. Beech is not at all durable, though. Its rot resistance is similar to maple, a little better than birch. I agree that black walnut shouldn't be used for truck beds. Even pallett grade walnut can make a lot of pistol grips and candle holders. Walnut isn't durable either, and it is softer than beech.
Go for the gusto, and use black locust. Very pretty yellow color, and far more durable than oak or southern pine.

Well you can't get it any more, due to the greenies, but probably the best would be teak wood , naturaly lubricating, used in bad weather, and just tough. I have one piece that I bought in maybe another lifetime. It's about 10'X 10" X 2". Use it for a motorcycle ramp. Hasn't failed for 30+ years.
Dennis

Don't know how much of an issue cost is, but Mahogany would be an nice choice. Check with these guys

http://www.irionlumber.com/mahprod1.htm

For teak, you might check these guys

http://www.irionlumber.com/mahprod1.htm

For other good exotic options try these guys

http://www.advantagelumber.com/exotic

This works nicely for choosing

http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/wdpick.htm

Was on Mar-K web site looking at bed wood and saw they have it in Pine. Isn't pine a soft wood? why would you use pine if its soft? :confused:

Pine itself is a soft wood, I hope they were talking about hard yellow pine, the key word being "hard". That stuff is a hard wood. This is what was probably original on your truck. I say probably because I did not see what year you were talking about.

Brian is correct, yellow pine was used as bed wood because it is hard. White pine is soft and would not be suitable.

Looks like I'll have to sell the Black Walnut, it sure is beautiful, my friend reminded me that I fell the tree two years ago. I have 4 boards, random lengths, 80-88", 8"wide, 2" full thick, what can I ask for this amt.? Also, a year ago or so a guy's wife who worked for Great Dane or some other trailer manufacturing plant made her husband a bed out of the wood used in tractor-trailers, I think the name of it is kurlin, not sure of spelling. For those of us that have seen the working inside of a trailer KNOW how indestructible that stuff is, any sources? Note spelling KEURLIN, not sure of.

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Cosmo ]

A web search says Curlin is the name of company that makes material handling equipment.We have yellow pine in a 51 and white oak in the 37.The oak looks better seems more durable. A local wood worker sold me the wood and milled it for less money than mail order. We stained the boards almost black, then applied CFW,the stuff used on decking.Every year or two I slop on another coat of CFW right over the boards and metal strips.This stuff soaks into the wood and rough stuff won't bother it, as its not a surface coating.It looks ok but not as slick as a urethane finish

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Tony ]

Bruce Horkey's Wood Parts Catalogue in Windon, MN 507.831.5625 has Oak and Ash in his bed kits. Anyone use the Ash? 1/2 ton 1937-87 Chevy-GMC Ash $245.00 or Oak for $275.00
t

Cosmo-your 2" walnut boards contain about 9 board feet each. Their value depends very highly on their quality, ie knots, seams,cracks,sapwood, rot, etc. If they are pretty nice, but not perfect, they ought to be worth at least $5.00 per board foot. Check with cabinet makers, or a specialty lumber yard for price comparison.

All good stuff about bedwood, but must clarify about hard yellow pine being a hardwood. The easy way to remember is "hardwood with leaves, softwood with needles". Hard pines are softwoods, basswood is very soft, but is a hardwood.

52pu, ash is even harder than oak. In my eye, it is better looking when stained with a blond stain. Had it for woodwork in my parent's house, the carpenters had to drill pilot holes for the finish nails to keep it from splitting.

The only "hard" southern yellow pine is old growth pine. You will be hard pressed to find that anywhere anymore. The difference is the number of annual growth rings per inch. Old trees grown in natural settings grow very slowly, thus many rings per inch. Compare this to what you can buy today and you can see how growing trees in rows and regular thinning to optimize growth rate greatly reduces the number of rings per inch, thus softer pine. The 2x4 studs (I mean by God 2x4s) in my 50 year old house must be pre-drilled to drive a nail, and the rings are so close together that its hard to count them.

While I agree about old growth and strength and all that, The having to drill your 50 year old house studs is more of an apples and oranges comparison to me.
My experience showed any 50 year old stud needs to be pre-drilled or risk cracking it, regardless of ring count.
I find with thin boards the strength comes from the cut of the grain. Not much 1/4 sawn around any more and lots of open faces

I just completed my bed out of beech. It is very hard and used for drawer sides and guides in old furniture. I stained mine with a deck stain. Mine is to be adaily driver in the north west. No clear finish will last outside so pick a finish that can be redone with minimum work. Walnut is fairly soft. The walnut will fade and turn gray over time like all wood outside. If you want the contrast look I would just stain the wood.

The southern yellow pine (SYP) used in the 50s-60s might not have been the old growth SYP "heart pine", which is much denser. Most of that dense old growth pine was harvested in the 19th century. Any old growth pine in the mid-20th century would have been very expensive compared to standard-grade southern yellow pine.

Don't you think that standard grade SYP was used for truck beds (these were just work vehicles)? I do not know, but I know everyone says that "heart pine" was used.

Pinus - "hard" [yellow] pine is a species discriminator, as opposed to "soft" [white] pine, nothing to do with the density or strength of different ages or cuts of the species "yellow pine" .... I suspect the use of both category names together ['hard' and 'yellow'] was an industry [timber and automotive] advertising ploy back in the day

consider the wood categories "softwood" and "hardwood", any type of pine is in the softwood category, and any type of 'softwood' will rot fairly quickly outdoors if unprotected

Bill

I agree, Bill

Well, I guess I need to demand a refund of tuition from Michigan State University, College of Natural Resources, Forestry Department for misleading me on the topic of growth rate and structural integrity. I could have just got all my information from Wikipedia for free. They do extensive testing, right?

I like the fact that we can still access 11 year old discussions.
Pretty much everything I ever wanted to know about old trucks is in here somewhere.

Carl, the "hard" terminology with respect to Pine bedwood has nothing to do with the "quality" of any breed or sample of wood, as varied by the characteristics or age of the individual tree or its milling .... as pointed out above, "hard" Pines are a family [Pinus Pinus] that includes Yellow Pine, so calling the bedwood "hard yellow pine" is using a redundancy for advertising purposes, "soft" Pine is a different family [Pinus Strobus] .... that's what you should have learned from the College of Natural Resources, Forestry Department - if you don't like Wikipedia, try the Southern Forest Products Association, as some use the more appropriate name "Southern Yellow Pine" for the bedwood [and note there are 10 different species] .... yes, Yellow Pine wood is "harder" than some other woods, but that has little to do with the use of the term for bedwood, Pine is still a "softwood" lumber

Bill

So, moral of the story is, the older and bigger the Pinus, the better! Anyhoo...

If you use softwood on your bed, it will rot and deteriorate much faster than hardwood with the proper coating. But, hardwood tends to be more unstable in that it cracks easier with humidity. That's just experience as a woodworker. I wonder if this isn't why Chevy made these beds with pine and then soaked them in a tar'ish solution to keep them from rotting too fast?

I used Douglas Fir on my ton and a half bed. But I used a really high grade weather coating too. Its lasted over 10 years and counting and hasn't lost its color. The plan for my next 1/2 ton resto is to use oak and tongue oil. The oak will be bleached with black paint then acetone to remove it before the tongue oil. Makes it look older than it really is. Always interested in better ideas!

better idea would be Tung oil, the beans are more available than tongues
softwoods can be preserved well with proper treatment too

Bill

Yeah, what HE said! LOL

OK, I have calmed down now. My point, which was not well explained by myself earlier, is any southern yellow pine that is grown in modern pine plantations, where fast growth is the only goal, is not suitable for a truck bed. This is due to the fact that it has a higher ratio of "summer wood", which contains more air space which makes it weaker and more prone to take on water which leads to an increased decay rate. The "winter wood" is more dense and gives the wood more strength. When you look at the annual rings, the winter wood is the thin dark line that you use to count the rings. The summer wood is the wider, lighter colored portion that is between these dark lines. Slow growth southern yellow pine has many more winter wood rings per inch giving it far superior strength than what is commonly produced and sold today. Bottom line, tighter grain means stronger structure in southern yellow pine. I will probably go with black locust painted black.

I think this belongs in the "Bed" section?

In any case, anyone who has been to Lowes or Home Depot in the last 10 years looking for straight 2x4 studs knows that fast growth pine is the reason why new houses or anything else you try to build with the new standard of lumber will look more like the pyramids than a ranch. I hate going to those places to get studs for a project because I anger the employees to NO END. I make them forklift bundle after bundle until I get the TWENTY 2x4 studs that are straight. I expect to spend hours there whenever I want straight. I totally get it. Then, its stupid anyway, cause when you get it home, humidity will make them all windy anyway! Good luck finding the older growth stuff. There are antique wood dealers that can hook you up. Just plan on taking the same care as you would any other parts for your truck for bed wood. Lol! This is why Pine is not an issue for me. Its hardwood or its nothing at all.

Ah men Bill, as will Maple, Oak and Walnut if left outside unprotected.

Choice of bed wood is a lot like the paint or any other thing
your doing with your truck. If you want a show truck, the
furniture or decorative woods with stains and clear coats are
your ticket. Most of them won't stand up out in the weather,
and teak, although great for out of doors, was always 4-times
more expensive then any of the others, having built some
benches and outdoor furniture many years ago myself.

If you're looking for originality and a wood that will last
another 60 years or as long as any of us are going to be around
then the SYP with a good soaking of linseed oil and lamp black
will fill the bill.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Being a woodworker myself and well conected to my local sawmills, if I were to choose to replace my still original but beat-up bed I would look for tight-grained pine (of whatever sort was available) from the very lowest section of the tree trunk. That part of the log nearest the root is saturated with resin and has traditionally been used for windows and door frames, or any part of construction that may be exposed to moisture. It has better natural moisture protection than pressure-treated lumber. I suspect that commercial sawmills discard that part of the tree since it does not cover well with paint (because nothing will soak into it).
I would be very interested to hear if any stovebolters have gone this route. Strictly speaking it is not original, neither will it be as elegant as a hardwood bed covered with a modern finish. But it might outlast

Karl

Anyone ever use ply? Like an mdo? I have a fuel cell and my old bed needs to be made. It's like a beaver attacked it. I have all new carriage bolts, washers and lock nuts to attach to lower braces. Just curious because I have 6 sheets of mdo I didn't use on a job and I was put like a carpet kit over it anyway.

lots of these trucks have wound up with ply for the bed floor, frequently just laid over the old one - note that the size of the bed floor doesn't quite work for one sheet, so you'll have a seam somewhere

Bill

I was gonna use two sheets cut longways. But I would still use all the bracketry under the old bed. Just lose the strips in between the 1x6 or 1x8. I'll figure it out. Worst case scenario I have a 3/16 steel plate at my dads and a welder hehehe.

I will be asking you guys when the time comes what the best wood to use is. Im really undecided. I will want to do all of the woodworking myself.. router bits, etc. Im a good 6 months from that. My current project is the truck with a matching pickup bed trailer.

I'm convinced IPE is my wood of choice. It may not be the wood originally used, but IPE (aka Iron Wood) is ridiculously strong & dense. It stains like mahogany or fades out to a beautiful Nantucket grey if left unfinished. I build homes and use IPE all the time on decks and exterior structures.

I second IPE and that is what I will be using. I have been suggesting IPE on other threads with similar questions and cannot think of a better and more durable wood than IPE. Yes, it is heavy, but a small price to pay for virtually an indestructible wood that will require zero maintenance if left to weather naturally.

Maybe that extra weight in the back will smooth out the ride.

I could use something that would smooth out the
ride in my '50, 3604, it rides like a truck!

Denny G

Pardon my ignorance, but what is IPE? Hardwood, softwood? I have access to an exotic woods vendor a few towns over. Iron wood comes from what tree? Native to the US or no?