The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Walnut wood!

I was hoping for some advice from someone out there that knows more about wood than myself. I'm about to start assembly my painted truck bed and a friend has offered me some seasoned walnut to use for the bed. Will this wood hold up to the elements if it is treated with something like polyurethane clear to preserve it.(Keep in mind I'm planning on keeping this truck out of the weather as much as possible and it will be garage kept)?

out of the weather and garage kept I'd say use the good stuff for sealing it up and have at it. Be sure to post a pic, Besides I like things a little different.

(my next one will be white oak that was cut off the home place a few years ago)

Walnut will be beautiful and plenty hard. Consider a product like Cabots Austrailian Timber oil to seal the walnut.

Walnut would be fine, by seasoned, do you mean air dried or kiln dried? If you have to plane it to get the proper thickness air dried walnut might warp on you, kiln dried won't! I used cherry wood and purpleheart for my bed, 7 coats of Helmans polyurethane, sanding between coats. Do all 4 sides of your boards no matter what you coat it with!

.... and be sure to let the ends soak in a pan of the sealer overnight. Just stand the boards up in it and let them soak. Most all ends never get sealed good and they turn black and start cracking. A fellow bolter taught this a some time ago.