Finishing Bed Wood with oil: Does it last, Let's just see

[Steeveedee]

You will have to repeat the oil treatment on at least a yearly basis, as it dries out. If it doesn't take very long, no big deal.

[hooverfish]

Tung oil has been used by the Chinese since 400BC. It is used to preserve both stone and wood.

It was used on the Great Wall of China and by the US Military in WWII.

Good stuff.

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by hooverfish

Tung oil has been used by the Chinese since 400BC. It is used to preserve both stone and wood.

It was used on the Great Wall of China and by the US Military in WWII.

Good stuff.

It's funny you say that about stone. I have my drying lines for may rags right next to my slump stone wall. The area where the rags hit the wall is shell hardened from the oil. I've tried scrubbing and wire brushing the area... NOGO... shell hardened and not moving, permanent now. Starts making you think, subterranean foundations in basements. Probably way more expensive than a modern membrane... in the short run. But man, the tung oil really sucks into a CMU and hardens real nice.

[jeffahart]

Been a bit over a year since the bed wood install with tung oil, and 9 months since the last oiling.

Spent ten minutes applying oil this afternoon. But I did spend a little extra time touching up the strips and tail gate to repair scraped off and scratched paint this morning before oiling. What the wood has been through since last oiling. Lots of leaves from trees it was parked under a lot of the time during fall and winter. Caused a lot of black from rotted leaves, but it cleaned up on hose down. The biggest damage I did to the wood was hauling railroad ties. The creosote soaked old ties left black scrapes along the wood from being shoved in and dragged out of the bed. Scraped up some bed strips and the tailgate. I scrubbed the crap out of the bed the week after I hauled the ties with a stiff scrub brush and simple green; and the black marks came out. I was really surprised. Anyhow, I have not babied the wood, it gets no special treatment.
The wood is getting an orange like patina. Looks real good. I slathered on some oil using a green scotch brite and a heavy hand to bring up as much amplitude as the scotch brite will enable. I did not wipe the bed wood down with a cloth after the application. I set it in the sun and forgot about it. All good... the easy button... it's why I went with oil.

The oil in the pic below is wet, it is a pic after fresh application.

Will update again on the next oil treatment.

[toolboxchev]

Originally Posted by bMr

I'm not a wood bed fan, usually skip over threads about them, and as such hadn't seen a wood bed in a white truck. Until today. Wow. That is gorgeous!

Thats a second on that one. Nice thing about Tung Oil, Linseed Oil, Danish Oil they all can be reapplied directly over the old finish...see how it goes!

[rockyrivermark]

I'm a woodworker by trade and had extra maple wood grain laminate and exterior glued ply on hand. Since it was free and left over from a commercial job I used it to see how it would work. Was an Experiment which I could always chnge to oak or pine later. Plus I had to stop the financial bleeding on the truck at end of the project.
I like when I go to a cruise in and someone asks "how did you get such a good finish on that"
Durable. UV resistant and looks great.
Mark

[JMC1965]

Any update on the oil? I’m planning my re-do of the bed for the summer

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by JMC1965

Any update on the oil? I’m planning my re-do of the bed for the summer

No sir. Sorry for the delayed response; and the wood looks the same right now. If you look at the Mar-k test they define only the painted wood as not failing. But if you look at mine now 1.5 years the finish is no where near failing. I believe my bed wood will still be structurally sound in twenty years. And I don't believe it's possible for it to fail as a finish... but only in failure to reapply as needed. And, no need to strip and sand and gag on dust to reapply, just slop on more! That said, the wood will still patina! My wood will not look preserved in twenty years, but it should still be structurally sound.


j

[sick472]

I have chosen a similar route to bed wood preservation. I painted the bottoms and sides with POR-15 like the Mar-K tests and gave two coats of an oil based "antique" stain to the tops. It merely has some gray to it that soaks into the coarser grains and gives it a little bit of an aged look. Form here, I hope that the occasional reapplication of some sort of oil will be all it takes. My truck will always be garaged when not being driven to work and such, and I bet this will last my lifetime with a little elbow grease every year or two. I have treated quite a few wood trailer beds with used motor oil and the owners of the trailers that I bowered them from were always appreciative and said that it helps especially when the trailers are in constant use and/or stored outside.

I think we are onto something here considering that we do not require that glossy show quality bed wood.

[jeffahart]

If you can. Post pics and the products you used, and periodically update the progress of the products performance. I think it's valuable to out with the results so truckers down the road can see how other options fair in the real world. We all see what varnish does.


j

[damnyankee36]

jeffahart,

I didn't see how long it took for the tung oil to fully dry after the first application. Did it take a longer or shorter time to dry on the additional applications?

Larry

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by damnyankee36

jeffahart,

I didn't see how long it took for the tung oil to fully dry after the first application. Did it take a longer or shorter time to dry on the additional applications?

Larry

The first coat was not full hardened, but dry enough. It took longer on the additional coats! I cut the first applications with turpentine. I think it took about a month for the oil to harden. You don't want to gob it on because you want it to dry, it's a drying oil. I am getting ready to put another application on. I will lightly sand this time and cut 3:1 oil to turpentine, I want to make sure the oil bleeds into all the cracks.


j

[leadfoot067]

almost a year since last update. hows the oiled wood? i am ready to do my own and thinking of going the oil route.

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by leadfoot067

almost a year since last update. hows the oiled wood? i am ready to do my own and thinking of going the oil route.

Let me take some pics tomorrow and I'll write an update with the good the bad and all that.


j

[Ironangel]

Lot of nice looking wood beds...I treat my wood bed once a year (whether it needs it or not) with used motor oil. I mop it on liberally on a hot summer morning after a good high pressure cleaning a day or two prior to oiling. The oil seeps through and coats the fastening hardware protecting it as well...Nothing fancy because I haul dirt, rock, straw and brush as well as tools and fuel barrels. My truck spends it's life outside in the rain sleet snow and blazing sun...Nothing Fancy...

[3757chevy]

I have planned to use beetle kill pine and am interested in seeing you're results.

[jeffahart]

Here's a couple pics from last Oct 2018 when I last did an application. Normally I will touch up the strips and wheel wells with white canned rust-oleum. Then I will apply the oil next day, week, month or whenever I get around to it. Oiling only takes about 15 minutes. But, how's it holding up? Last Oct when I went to oil I noticed the second big board from the left was cupping up about a 1/4". So I lashed it down, you can see the bolts to the cross members. That same board had continued to open up. I have always had my eye on that particular board. If you look at the original pics you can see the faint black lines in the same board. It has continued to open a bit each year. I don't think it's going anywhere now. I dripped extra oil in the cracks and that has now hardened like a resin.

I like the dark patina. I like that the wood is getting hard. I don't like that it's opening up. I think I will get 10-15 years. I think the wood will still be structurally viable in that time frame. But it won't win a show prize!

The truck stays outside and the bed get's abused. But.. it's not the usage abuse, it's just flat the weather. Wood doesn't like weather. You have to maintain wood. It's why I tried this (almost) maint free solution. Easy maint anyway, not like paint or varnish.

I was at a restoration shop Saturday. The owner was looking over my truck, he commented on the bed wood and said they spray a poly clear coat like for paint jobs. He said it won't split with that. I really doubt it though, let me see the three to five year bed spent outside. His stuff is expensive and his clients probably both garage and cover their expensive toys. But, everyone comments on the bed wood and has an opinion, I listen and I am interested. But I really want to see the five year, been in the elements solution. Keeping wood looking natural and pristine is a tough one. Paint is the pest protection you can get, and sometimes boards still crack and move. You can get paint that's pretty damed good, but there is no guarantee how each board is going to behave. But I wanted my wood to look like wood. So there's that, the satisfaction I get when I look at the wood.

Anyhow thats the update. Would I do tung oil again? Not sure yet. I will definitely know in five more years. Would I do yellow pine again? Not sure on that either. Next time I may just mill some railroad ties.

I posted this to help people decide. Not really an evangelist, just hoped to get a good solution to keep the natural look.



j

[jeffahart]

Oh also, one other thing. The zinc bolt heads are beginning to rust now too. I mean patina!


j

[weq92f]

.
Nice! Thanks for the update. FWIW I'm thinking your bed looks fantastic given the minimal amount of time required to maintain it and the fact that you don't really protect it at all.

-klb

[leadfoot067]

thanks for the update!

[3757chevy]

I've finished cutting my wood , now I need to drill some holes , sand and finish. How is yours looking now ?

[leadfoot067]

i finished mine with penofin. https://www.penofin.com/wood-stains/...ish-wood-stain
my truck sits inside. i drive it to work 2-3 times a week. the wood is pine.

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by leadfoot067

i finished mine with penofin. https://www.penofin.com/wood-stains/...ish-wood-stain
my truck sits inside. i drive it to work 2-3 times a week. the wood is pine.

Bed looks killer! If you can, try to keep up on annual updates so we can see durability and manit. Looks like I'm due for an annual application and update pics myself. I can say mine is starting to petrify and get hard.

Anyhow, great job. Your'e going to love looking in the bed and seeing that wood!

j

[leadfoot067]

i specifically posted this so i can find it later! so then i will know when i did it. i will update in 6 months or so.

[jeffahart]

I oiled so I will log an update. Wood has taken on a nice dark patina. I like it a lot. The wood is getting really hard. I posted a pic of the bottom also. I have not touched the bottom since install. Over the weekend I touched up the strips with the canned white Rustoleum, and took some steel wool to the wood to bring up a little amplitude then oiled. I abuse the bed pretty badly, no mercy. It lives outside. It ain't pretty, but it looks like I might get 20 years if it continues to get harder.

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