Today we are at a resort/spa place called Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls. A couple we built cabinets, furniture and doors for gave us 2 nights here for our wedding present, which was almost a year ago. It was good for a year so we decided we better schedule it. Turns out it's just a few miles from one of my best salvaged wood suppliers and I need 18 more pieces of 4x6 old growth fir t and g flooring. Yes, that's a thick floor. Another builder needs 900 sq ft of 1x8 ceiling boards, and 600 sq ft of plank flooring. Soooo, in a half hour, when my wife gets her complimentary massage, I'm off to sort through piles of old wood. I will have him band it up for a pick-up next week. The only parking here is valet and we would have had to bring the cummins powered '59 or my '92 f350, in order to haul it home tomorrow, so we brought my son's Honda, which is the only 'car' we could access, other than my wifes beater '85 Mercedes diesel station wagon, and that's just as hard to start as the other two I mentioned. The old wood business is always an adventure. That's the treasure hunt part for me, and it can be much more profitable than building with it. Maybe my favorite part for me is I get to use my trucks in the business!

 

Been sorting through the old barn lumber trying to find boards that were not totally trashed and didn't have way too much character. Finally got all the planing and router work done. Being the guy that tries to use what I have I decided to try a different route on my bed wood. I've still got some drilling and head scratching to do before I decide on finish for the wood.

 

Perfect!! That looks awesome. Don't need no stinkin' bedstrips!

 

Wow,that looks really nice! Good job. Kinda resembles a modern truck bed. Cool.

 

Interesting skid strips!

 

Yep!!! Looks VERY nice!!!
You have allowed enough room for expansion and contraction.
Be sure to finish it on ALL sides to minimize the movement..
VERY NICE
.....Roger

 

I find it hard to comprehend a city as large as DFW not having a hardwood lumber yard or supplier (altho I realize there aren't many trees around DFW...). Check your yellow pages for hardwood lumber, wood working supplies, reclaimed lumber and/or local outlets for national chains like Woodworkers supply, Woodcraft, Klingspor. Also search for local woodworker clubs or groups, they will know where to buy wood in your area.

 

Very cool! How do you plan on fastening the bed strips down?

 

Good question. Initially I'm thinking that drilling the rub strip in several locations along their length and using button head stainless bolts. I would like to try to devise some way that I can install all the strips from the top side without having to get under the truck. I'm certainly open to suggestions. The wife and I spent a good while last night looking at options and also talking about staining either the main floor or the rub strips a darker color for some contrast.

I'm gonna take a few days off from that project and go back to wiring and hopefully I'll have a brainstorm on how I'm going to mount the strips. Also need to plow my garage since it's got a nice thick coat of dust from all the woodwork and some recent fiberglass work.

 

I'm wondering if there is a way to have hidden fasteners for the strips. You have enough beef in the middle to hold a wood screw pretty well. Predrill the holes, although the stainless button heads would look nice.

 

Having the strips a darker color would look cool.

 

At the moment I'm not committed to anything. I've considered what you're suggesting. What I really want is to be able to install and take apart the floor without having to take apart a lot of other stuff on the truck. I've got to start applying the keep it simple principle to this build, since I'm committed making it drivable in the next few months.

 

Tapping Inserts for Wood

High-Strength Hex Drive
Inserts cut threads that hold tight in wood and particleboard. Internal thread class is 2B for inch sizes and 6H for metric sizes.

High-strength hex drive inserts are made from high-strength plain steel that you can use in hard materials. To install, use a metric hex driver.

For technical drawings and 3-D models, click on a part number.
High-Strength Hex Drive
Steel Inserts
Internal
Thread Insert
Lg. Drill
Size Pkg.
Qty. Pkg.
10-24 15/32" 19/64" 25 90192A114 $13.23
1/4"-20 15/32" 3/8" 10 90192A117 7.90
1/4"-20 19/32" 3/8" 10 90192A121 6.35
1/4"-20 25/32" 3/8" 10 90192A124 10.25
5/16"-18 45/64" 29/64" 10 90192A127 11.72
3/8"-16 1 3/16" 39/64" 10 90192A132 12.86

 

My wife and I both agree!!

 

Me three or four, I guess that would be.