Wood bed finish
 

Rainy week here in Fla so I guess I'll set up some sawhorses in the living room and work on the bed wood. I like the natural finish oak . The truck will be my daily driver (maybe 3000 miles /year) but will be garaged. It still gets rainy ,hot and lots of UV. Any recommendations for long term easy maintenance sealer?

Re: Wood bed finish
 

On a past build, I used automotive clearcoat over the stained oak. It held up great. You have to think automotive clearcoat is made to withstand UV rays.


Marc

Re: Wood bed finish
 

Sounds good thanks

Re: Wood bed finish
 

I used automotive clear on my oak bed wood like Youngrodder and color sanded them and buffed them just like a body panel.

I used MarK's oak bed boards and went several rounds with a grain-filler before clearing them. Looks smooth like a basketball court.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

oem finish is thinned black paint.
any clear finish will crack in the grooves and let water under the finish.
wood boats use spar varnish, but needs constant attention to look good

Re: Wood bed finish
 

Is there any way to prevent to cracking? I like this finish. Its different



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc3U...workingWithWes

Re: Wood bed finish
 

As a sometimes vintage boat owner, exterior varnished woodwork is an annual chore to keep up or a redo every 2-3 years. Even with annual maintenance varnish builds up and needs to be stripped back and redone every several years. In the PNW if you let it get away from you the weather will stain the wood to the extend you might as well just paint it.

Look at an oil finish, still an annual chore to keep it up but an easier one where you just wipe on some more oil. It does not build up and need redoing. Deks Olje is a brand popular in wooden boat circles, looks just like varnish.

I went with a steel floor from a 2000 something GM pickup truck. Couple days work, almost free and I'll probably never even have to paint it. But it won't have the visual appeal of varnished wood.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

https://talk.classicparts.com/data/x...jpg?1587951677

I had all sorts of ideas from painted to exotic wood to different types of stains.

In the end, I went with the tried and true (if not original, thinned black paint) It has been about four years now and it still looks the same

Re: Wood bed finish
 

This is satin Helmsman Spar varnish, there's 20+ coats sanded every other coat. I wax it every year to protect against moisture and UV. The Spar ranked highly in the Mar-K finish durability test, that's why I chose it.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

Any clear coat on wood will need to be redone every couple years if it gets wet. Like fine furniture, if it never gets wet, it'll never need refinishing. But that one time the kids leave a cold glass of water on grandma's heirloom buffet, you're screwed.
Go to any car show and look at the bedwood. New builds are perfect, 5 year old builds are getting bubbles around the bed strips. No pictures on this device, but most of you have seen my Trex decking bedwood. 12 years of running in rain and snow and it still looks newish. Not to mention 12 years of running through the carwash

Check out this website. First extensive testing I’ve seen the finishes all the wood beds

https://www.mar-k.com/PDFs/Instructions/2007finalwoodtest.pdf
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Re: Wood bed finish
 

That doesnt look like black paint??

Re: Wood bed finish
 

I'm a big fan of Tung oil. A proper finish will take at least 2 months probably 3. IMHO there is nothing nicer. It will never crack because it's in the wood not on the wood.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

What is the proper way?

Re: Wood bed finish
 

I used the same 2 part clear coat i put on the paint, it was advertised to have UV protection in it. So far so good.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

My experience is that Helmsman doesn't hold up well exposed to the elements.

In the 19 years I have owned my 21 Ft sailboat I have redone the hand rail at least every other year and have sanded them so much they are slimmer than I started with. They look great for a while but as my sailing mentor said, brass is green teak is gray.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds

There are some high quality marine varnishes and finishes out there intended for outdoor use and that is what I would look into. There are also a few marine finishes that give a more natural not varnished look that boat folks like.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

no wood finish you can see the wood through holds up outdoors without annual care. none. Check the fancy boat in very top right of above picture, varnished cabin sides peeking out form under and full boat canvas cover.

I have two 12 foot varnished mahogany lapstrake canoes that I made and varnished in about 1992. A 16 foot cedar strip canoe, varnished over epoxy in about 1998. A 17 foot cedar strip kayak, high tech/cost two part polyurethane varnish with UV inhibiters over epoxy circa 1993.
These finishes have all stood up well, stored in unheated shed but out of the sun and rain. The polyurethane is starting to show some slight yellowing of the finish in places. The varnish is just hardware store spar varnish.

But I have also had various larger boat trim and things around the house varnished but kept outdoors and it is just a hassle to keep up.

A wood bed floor is going to work against the bed strips, it will be very hard to stop it from cracking the finish there and water getting in. Even just washing it and keeping it indoors, water will get into the cracks, swell the grain and make the crack larger.

If I truly had to have a wood bed I'd try an oil finish.
Or maybe treated lumber left bare
Or teak left bare, but then someone would steel the truck for the wood.

Re: Wood bed finish
 

First you have to get real Tung oil not the stuff you get at the big box store. The first couple of applications I cut it with a solvent about 40 to 50 percent so it soaks in really well. Brush it on all sides paying special attention to the ends. It will not build up. Let each coat dry for about a week. Then use the pure. I use a rag to apply it. don't let it puddle up. a couple of weeks between coats. You will see the grain fill up. I like 4 coats of the pure depending on the wood. I also do a light sanding between coats with 600 or so. Buff it with a rag or clean buffing pad at the end. It's a satin finish. If you want a little more gloss buff a little paste wax on it. It's been used on boats for thousands of years. I use it on custom furniture and very expensive conference tables. It is a golden color so it will slightly darken the wood. JMHO.

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What do you think of this ? What solvent do you recommend ? https://www.trailerdecking.com/ExoSh...xoC-ogQAvD_BwE

Re: Wood bed finish
 

https://www.amazon.com/Moisture-Resi...=198085753806&
This is what I use. Beware of anything that says "finish". I use mineral sprits to thin it.

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worth reading for some tips and warnings
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...0-Oil-Finishes

Re: Wood bed finish
 

I have trex on my deck outside the house in Calgary Alberta Canada. it gets over 30C here in the summer and below -30C here in the winter. it is a dry climate at 4500ft above sea level. we get all the weather types, rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind and sun. I am done resurfacing wooden decks so my deck is trex. it is about 18 years old and the only thing I have ever done to it is power wash it in the spring. wintertime it gets shovelled off with a plastic shovel so it sees sun all year. yes, it is a bit faded and I have thought a quick coat of something for plastic may help but that would also make it slippery when wet. if i was gonna use a wood look for my truck bed I would use trex. this is the total reason why my truck has a steel floor from a donor. my boat has a teak swim platform and I have to sand it down every year and rub the oil on. no kidding, the teak is grey in the span of a summer in the sun even though it gets UV rated teak oil from the boat store. I get frustrated with the teak to the point of thinking about making a fiberglass platforn for it.
to each their own, if you like wood then go for the wood but plan to spend a bunch of time every year redoing it.

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or never get it wet and minimal sunshine
roll in the trailer, roll into the indoor show and back into the trailer
it's really not hard to research, just go to any show, bubbles in the bed strip cracks is standard
if the bed is glossy and perfect it's a new build, not so glossy it's oiled

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Don't forget not to put any fluids in it so it can't leak. I was once told that half the cars at SEMA don't even have pistons.

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idk about that one. i've personally been involved in 8-10 sema builds
they all drove onto the trailer, one even drove home from vegas
if you ever see a vehicle up on mirrors with chromed exhaust i'd bet that one never ran