I personally think just do a clear stain to protect it I wouldn't change the color of the bed to much. By the way truck is looking great so far.
Trav

 

The darker the stain the longer it will last, because the pigment protects the wood underneath. Strictly a technical point, aesthetics is another, very personal issue. Whatever you do, use a stain, not a clear varnish, because varnishes almost never last in strong sunlight. Stain fails by weathering away, but varnishes fail by pealing which is harder to deal with for rework.

 

Oh I wasn't considering a varnish. Thompson Deck seal or other brand was going to be my choice. I like the natural color the bed is now, so I think I may use a stain that is the "natural" look.

 

If it is untreated wood I'd stain it. Dark, but not terribly dark. It is going to get dirty on the farm. Or, you could oil it, and, oddly enough one thing I've used on teak swim decks is ATF.

 

I've read somewhere some guys use used engine oil......I think I will go with deck stain first to see how that turns out. If this bed lasts me 10 years I will just rebuild it. I don't care if it rots, its so cheap and easy to fix it. But a little deck stain won't hurt...I have some scrap wood cuttings I will do some color charts of and pick whichever one I like.

 

You really should seal the wheel cutouts.
Just brush on some water resistant wood glue.
It will soak into the end grain and prevent getting saturated by water.
The constant swelling and drying out will cause splits otherwise.

 

Won't deck stain do the same thing?

Anyway, what do you guys think about attaching the cross members like shown in either picture below? I thought originally to mount the angles vertically. Then I started thinking about cutting them in half and match drilling two angle to screw together sandwiching the wood, then mount the angle to the bed as show in the second picture. Either way I think it will be fine, but do you guys have any opinions?





So, the only thing I finished up tonight was installing the door hinges and installing one more cross member. It needed notching around the gas tank as well as the frame rails.

 

Mount the angle vertically. Use carriage bolts into the wood, through the angle, and nuts/washers on the back side.

 

The second pic is not holding enough cross grain nor supporting the wood from cupping.
Definitely go vertical with at least 2 bolts (high & low)

No, stain will not seal anything.
It is porous and that's why it doesn't peel.

Film forming finishes fail mostly because UV gets through and starts breaking down the lignin in the wood.
Wood is just cellulose fibers bound by a lignin matrix.
Weathered wood is stringy because the fibers are not attached.
A dark pigmented stain (or UV inhibited varnish) will help shade the wood from the sun's ultraviolet.

If it were me, I would apply a penetrating oil/wax combination.
The dissolved wax offers some waterproofing and the oil soaks in.
These type of finishes can't peel and are easy to reapply.

 

Jim and Gary, thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought too much about warping on the cross members, just on the side boards. Anyways, who makes that penetrating oil/wax? I've never heard of that stuff.

 

Looin real good. I also think the vert bracket would be best. That wood is going to want to twist and do all manner of strange things. Two carriage bolts hi/lo should work just fine.

 

I didn't explain my thinking on why to go vertical with the angles, but cupping was a big part of that. Plus that it spreads the load so it isn't concentrated right at the top of your bracket - something you never want to do. IOW, with the brackets down low the force keeping the bed from moving fore/aft would be concentrated right at the top of the bracket and along the grain - which is where wood is least strong. By turning them vertically such that they run almost to the top of the wood there is no concentrated force point since the brace itself will flex.

To prevent cupping you would bolt through the middle with the crown arching away from the brace. But, my guess is that you aren't watching for the crown, plus one bolt concentrates the force again. So, I would put in two bolts in, each at the 1/4 point from the edge. That way you spread the load and are close enough to the center to prevent cupping regardless of which way the crown goes.

 

Okay. I agree with you guys. I didn't purchase carriage bolts though. I build my sons' play set with carriage bolts and what I found was after the wood shrank a little bit, or the bolt compressed the wood, it is an endless fight to keep them tight. And after you tighten them so far you end up just spinning the head with nothing to grip onto if you ever want to take it apart.

Instead I bought bolts, large washers, nuts and lock washers. I will be using a little blue lock-tite also. I am sure I will still have to occasionally tighten the bolts dows as the wood compresses a little.

 

That'll work.

 

As long as the wood gets wet the cells will swell and crush.
When it dries back out it will be loose.
This is why I always try to seal the holes before bolting.

Torque washers are like a fender washer with a square hole for the carriage bolt and teeth on the back side to keep them from spinning.
They were used for structures and machinery back when things like car chassis and railroad bridges were built from timber.

Edit, pic: