I did some research for rough sawn lumber that I could get locally. Decided on Black Locust. There is a mill not to far away from me that supplies it, so it will be my choice when the time comes.

It is a hard, close-grained wood. It is very durable and is naturally rot resistant.

 

That is a VERY GOOD selection. Though a Seattle native, I come from a long line of New England Yankees. They have an expression 'put in a locust fencepost and a granite one.... the granite one lasts one year longer'.

 

ok, i think everybody has to back up a few steps on this bedwood thing.
number one, you need to go to a CLOSED GRAIN WOOD if you want it to last longer than the truck. oak is an open grained wood and the worst wood for a bed and very expensive. it absorbs dirt and just crap in the air and turns black in those crevises and unavoidable scratches. a closed grain hardwood such as beach naturally repels anything, no place to hide!
second, on my truck,a driver, will be a 3/4 inch vaneer closed grain plywood from h.d.. i'll cut the strips to size, stain it the color or shade that i want, then coat w/ a good exterior urethane, all sides, front and back and edges. 2 or 3 coats will do it. it comes in all finished from higloss to flat and everything in between. a sheet of 4x8x3/4 goes for under $60 if you shop. believe me, theres no romance in spending a ton of money on something that was a growing thing and will deteriorate eventually.

i'm a career carpenter and spent many years finding these things out, hope it helps.

qman (not confused about wood)

 

I wouldn't use the ply from HD, it's not exterior grade and will delaminate in short order, especially since they overlap and/or gap space the interior plys rather than trim and butt glue them, plus the decorative face ply is paper thin. They only stock oak, birch and some junk wood they call sandeply. If you must use ply, use a marine grade baltic birch, but it runs about 120.00 + a sheet.
The problem with wood for bed floor is there is no one wood than won't warp and/or check, will not change color from UV/weather exposure, won't easily gouge or scratch, has an appealing color/grain pattern, will take and hold a high gloss finish is affordable/available and is low maintenance. That wood has been the holy grail of high end deck and boat builders for centuries. There are many woods that have one of those parameters, a few that meet a combination of two or three, but none that comes close to all of them. If you want a bed floor that looks like a piece of fine wood furniture, park it in the living room! Or else put in a steel floor and faux paint it to look like wood. Otherwise keep it inside as much as possible, plan on refinishing it frequently and replacing it every few years, it's the nature of the beast.
Note: I am not a professional wood worker, just an advanced hobbyist/designer, but I did study wood species and properties in my undergraduate and graduate wood design courses (have a minor in wood design), and was once a nuclear chemist so I also have a lot of science background.

 

All I know about wood could fit in a thimble but I paid attention to Sparky2531, Horvaths,Topmoo and Ax plus a few others and so far the wood looks great. I'm sure it would be better if someone that knows what they are doing was doing it. But if you don't know follow these guys lead it works

 

right again oh my wood/metal guru!! ax, you know i'm a carpenter and not a nookliar scientist!!!. i was trying to get at the average guy that want suppin' nice lookin' fer now. "drivers" don't need teek or anything close. maybe h.d. isn't the best but most guys don't even know where a specialty wood supplier is in their town if they have one. plenty of options, but, don't be looking for a wood that won't "change". it ALL will.....it was ALIVE at some point not too long ago....,.good urethane, keep it clean,recoat every few years...yer good to go!!

qman

 

Topmoo, I too have been thinking about composite decking. Most of what I've seen available at Lowes is solid, dimentional, either 2 x or 5/4. I admit, it does not look as nice as hardwood. I would probably paint it and use stainless strips. I think the 5/4, if the edges were rabbetted for the strip, would work. It seems stiff enough for bed use, but some additional support might be needed.

 

Think out of the box a little, maybe aromatic red cedar, it holds up to moisture as good or better than anything. My personal favorite, purple heart. It's kinda expensive and be careful around the sawdust. Hickory is nice rich wood and Mesquite is really nice. Also ash is a nice tough wood and holds up well.
And for gosh sakes don't use that polyurethane plastic crap like Varathane on it. It doesn't allow the wood to breath and it will start coming off leaving the wood exposed to turn gray. Use a nice oil finish and apply a new coat once a year.

 

Ever go over to Edensaw GB?

 

Wow! Ice storm knocked me off the net and I missed 25 posts. Lots of good ideas here. I have't had a chance to read the other thread you guys did when I was off the forum, but I will.

I am definitely doing an oil finish this time. Not that I am particularly convinced it will last, but it isn't that big a deal to recoat, unlike varnish or other film coats.

Somebody above mentioned oak as a bad choice for bedwood. Keep in mind red and white oak exhibit quite different characteristics when used outdoors. I am leaning white oak, but there were other good suggestions. A lot of them are very expensive around here though.

 

Tung oil: very hard, durable, fairly clear, dries rather quickly. Can be relatively pricey. Use real tung oil, not "Tung Oil Finish." Cut first coat with mineral spirits for good penetration.

Linseed oil: hard after it (finally) cures, durable, amber tone, dries slowly. Cheap. Use "boiled" linseed oil, not raw (hard to find raw nowadays anyway). Cut first coat with mineral spirits for good penetration.

My father was an early American antiques reference source (walking encyclopedia) and I do a bit of woodwork myself. I like to use tung oil on curly maple stools. Takes a pretty good licking and still looks great. Tung oil would probably be my choice for a "pretty" bed and linseed oil for a workhorse like our Albatross. If I wanted an amber tone, I'd go with linseed either way. My 2c
Oh, and, as pretty as it is, Purple Heart loses color upon exposure to uv light. Even bois d'arc and mesquite will grey upon exposure. I'd sure like to find some 12' slabs of bois d'arc for Albatross' bed.

Edit - stinking cell phone chell speckers.

 

I have most of the above mentioned products. I use them on inside furniture projects with great results. I am going to respectfully challenge one statement you made. Boiled Linseed oil is durable? Please define durable. I say it is a finish that will need frequent (more than annual) applications to keep the wood looking somewhat fresh. If I am wrong, great, because it is very economical.

 

I know this was kicked around a bit already but I would encourage anyone looking at bed material to take a look at Ipe. The most rot resistant wood on the planet, very hard and very pretty. No finish required.

Oak will rot right out from under you, even in a dry climate. Anything that takes stain well will soak up water just as easily. Bad choice for a truck bed. After 10 years it had large pockets of rot on the underside that would just crumble apart, now I'm replacing it with ipe.

 

Rhopper, make sure that the composite deck material that you are going to use isn't the type that has the "tubular" center. When rabbeted it may cut into the void.

 

10 years is acceptable service for some of us. The beauty of the wood is a factor for many of us. If you cut it yourself it's 100 bucks worth of wood. My oak is not really rotten at all after 10 years, just not attractive anymore. Do you have PICs of an IPE wood bed?