Who has the best bed wood, and has anyone attempted to make themselves?

thanks

 

A long time ago, when I had a buddy with a cabinet shop I cut the bed boards for a project truck. If you have all the woodworking machines it really isn't hard at all.
The last truck I did I bought the wood kit from LMC (I think). It was great and only needed some minor trimming and finishing.

 

Built a couple for myself. Used white oak. I think yellow pine was used originally or what ever was avail. Check with your local high or vocational school. They might be able to make the bed wood as a project.

 

A lot depends on the design of the wood...that is, will it be just like the OEM or perhaps a custom layout. I have a friend who does high-end wood flooring and he hooked me up with some really nice Brazilian cherry flooring. The boards are 7-1/8 inches wide and I intend to use them at that width with custom made seperator strips. If you are going with more of a stock setup then it is probably easier/cheaper just to buy the wood pre-cut. Red and white oak seem to be the most popular. Mar-K bed kits are very high quality.

 

We did our own bed wood. Bought some rough sawn white oak at a local sawmill for $15.00. It was banded together, so I left it like that for a year in the garage attic. A fellow from church planed them and cut the grooves in the edges. Dennis

 

There is a place around here where I was shopping for something different for a desk I was building. The guys showed me some black walnut, and that is for sure what I will be using. After I stained and waxed it it's some of the most incredible looking wood I've seen.