Making Reproduction Bed Wood

[ACK]

In the process of replacing the truck’s bed wood and taking a little different approach. The goal is to replicate the factory boards and it appears they’re very close.

The wood is inexpensive pine, went through a 100+ pieces to get a select few with minimal or no knots. I referenced several board posts and some original planks on hand for making the cuts. There's some shaping to the grooves on the original planks that I applied to the boards, detail is drawn out below. The 7-degree angle cut on the table saw was quick and easy, the round over was done on a shaper and took a little more time and patience. Afterwards, I notched the edges about every 1-1/2’ to prevent rain water collecting in the middle of the bed.

After the wood was cut to size, shaped, and holes drilled, a coat of Solar-Lux NGR jet black dye was applied. Next step, a coating of Minwax Pro Series Antique Black exterior stain. To finish off, the boards are covered with 2 coats of boiled linseed oil with a bottle of Pearl Ex lamp black pigment mixed in. I don’t think the Pearl Ex makes a huge difference, but the end results are a very rich, dark black with distinct grain show through.

There’s a lot of work left to be done on the bed sides and frame, so the wood will go into storage for a bit, I’ll post picks when it’s together and give occasional updates on how the wood holds up. She was my daily driver, but while she’s been apart, I’ve purchased an FJ Cruiser and will be torn as to which one to drive when there’s 2 vehicles to choose from.

[northern 85]

Nice work! I really like the look!

[Clyde65]

Nice! I did similar with some Oak wood. I used Baer products though.

[Johns 66]

looks really good....Where did you get the dimensions for the main bolts and washer holes?

[Brad54]

Looks good!
Why did you choose pine over a hardwood?
On another note, I love that you put drain notches in. Standing water kills wood.
I though if I build my own bed planks, I'll put additional drain holes under the washers.

[ACK]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

looks really good....Where did you get the dimensions for the main bolts and washer holes?

I used the original planks for location and a little fuzzy math. Mar-k has instructions on how to locate them that looks real good ... http://www.mar-k.com/_assets/images/...s_3-8_ofst.pdf. I clamped a board to the drill press to ensure distance in was the same on all holes. The hole depth for the offset washers varied quite a bit on the original boards, so I took an average and used that.

[ACK]

Originally Posted by Brad54

Looks good!
Why did you choose pine over a hardwood?
On another note, I love that you put drain notches in. Standing water kills wood.
I though if I build my own bed planks, I'll put additional drain holes under the washers.

Pine made sense to me for a few reasons:

• Wanted to be authentic, original boards were yellow pine
• There's trucks out there with the original bed wood, so there must be something about the process
• 1st time doing this, so wanted to use inexpensive wood in case I messed up
• I tend to haul things around in the pick up and like character scratches and dings in the wood

[rideblue00]

Where did the 7* come from? My original wood doesnt have that.

[ACK]

Originally Posted by rideblue00

Where did the 7* come from? My original wood doesnt have that.

I'll post a close-up side-by-side detail shot to show the angle. On the 1st board I pulled for comparison, I thought it was wear and tear, but they all have the 7*. Does your wood have the round over? My truck is '64 and built in Baltimore, wonder if year, production location, or supplier come into play.

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by ACK

Pine made sense to me for a few reasons:

• Wanted to be authentic, original boards were yellow pine
• There's trucks out there with the original bed wood, so there must be something about the process
• 1st time doing this, so wanted to use inexpensive wood in case I messed up
• I tend to haul things around in the pick up and like character scratches and dings in the wood

I didn't know they were originally pine! I'd have thought they were hardwood.
Great info!
And again, your boards look GREAT!

[ACK]

Originally Posted by rideblue00

Where did the 7* come from? My original wood doesnt have that.

The end of the original wood is cut off to get a better view of the profile since it was all chewed up. Here's a side-by-side, I like the shape of the original better, the detail is nicer. There's a slight angle to the inner most edge, 7* seems about right.

[The Rocknrod]

Nope!

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by Brad54

I didn't know they were originally pine! I'd have thought they were hardwood.
Great info!
And again, your boards look GREAT!

Originally Posted by ACK

Pine made sense to me for a few reasons:

• Wanted to be authentic, original boards were yellow pine
• There's trucks out there with the original bed wood, so there must be something about the process
• 1st time doing this, so wanted to use inexpensive wood in case I messed up
• I tend to haul things around in the pick up and like character scratches and dings in the wood

Nice job! looks great!
I'm guessing you might already know, but Southern yellow pine is wholly different than other types of pine. It's way stronger, it's quite hard and durable, and it also resists rot. That's why they used it originally.
Not the case with most other varieties of pine. Most are soft, weak, and prone to decay.

[rideblue00]

Is S. Yellow Pine available nowadays?

[ACK]

Originally Posted by oem4me

Nice job! looks great!
I'm guessing you might already know, but Southern yellow pine is wholly different than other types of pine. It's way stronger, it's quite hard and durable, and it also resists rot. That's why they used it originally.
Not the case with most other varieties of pine. Most are soft, weak, and prone to decay.

There's definitely a difference in weight, the new boards are much lighter. One of linseed oil's pluses, it fills in between the grain of the wood, making it less likely to dent, not that this makes it stronger or less likely to rot. If it rots faster than anticipated, the next bed will be better quality wood. I love wood working, so this has been a fun project.

[ACK]

With all the rain last year, painting the bed was delayed to this year. Here's photos of the finished product to close out the thread. In short, it's white pine that's been both stained and dyed black, then finished off with linseed oil with lampblack added. I enjoy how the wood grain shows through the black and if I have to replace again, I would consider doing the same process, but maybe with better quality wood ... time will tell.

[Greenlee]

Looks great! Nice work.

[The Rocknrod]

That still looks great to me. I like the pictures of the end of the boards, informative thank you.

[roll_the_dice]

Beautiful truck bed...Thanks for sharing how you cut it and what you used. I am about to do the bed on my stepside.

[Chevy Fleetside]

I will be doing this same thing except all of my original bedwood is toast. There are a few small pieces left. I did the same picking through boards and paid a bit over $100 for it all. I will probably just paint it as I do use my truck for truck stuff.