Not to be argumentative, but two things do not meet with my experiences over 40 years...
First of all, I have not found boiled linseed oil has to be redone more than every other year even when it is constantly outside.

And I have not found any spar varnish, whether rated for outside use or not that will last more than one season on a deck. It is the spar varnishes that require all the maintenance, not the linseed oil or other deck oils.

The deck oils are made for decks that obviously are constantly weathering. Once the boards are soaked in linseed or tung or deck oil, they might require a topical overcoat once a year, but no sanding, no chipping, in short no maintenance. This is what I use on my deck (Thompson's water seal), and on my flatbed. The non-glossy finish is safe to walk on, stays waterproof, and is a once a year overcoat. It wipes off the bed strips also.

Finally, if you have a table saw, cut your own bed strips from clear fir, or if you have the money, Ash, or Hickory, then use a router and cut the area for bed strips. It is a lot less expensive than precut wood and it will fit perfectly. My '60 Ford Pickup wood went the full 10 years I had it looking like the first day the bed was done with only yearly touchups of oil. I used the bed, not heavily, but all the time light use.

Regards,

Alanco

 

Likewise, I also do not mean to be argumentive, but what your 40 years of experience and my 40 years of experience have yielded are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. And I guess that's entirely possible. As I mentioned, there isn't "just one way" to do this. That's the funny thing about experience, it is a function of time, and it doesn't necessarily mandate enlightened or greater knowledge - kind of depends on the person I think.

The weakness of boiled linseed oil as both an interior finish and an exterior protectant is the primary reason tung oils and deck oils such as WATCO were developed and are now used by Manufacturers of wood products. Poly Spar Varnish on my Mahogany boat decks have been there for 10 years without a blemish. All I do is rewax it every 6 months - like the car.

And I'm not even going to offer my opinion of "Thompsons" - especially as a boat or bed wood sealer - WOW!

Here's a suggestion, unless you folks are in a hurry, get a couple pieces of scap woods, (maybe different kinds) and finish them using a number of techniques and products. Then put them outside....see how it works. Then you can go with YOUR OWN experience and how it applies to YOUR situation and conditions.

The beauty of this is that "one must sleep in the bed one makes himself." No pun intended.

Good luck guys!

Julie!

PS, OBTW Alanco: Clear Fir, and for that matter Clear Redwood are both more expensive than Ash, Hickory, Phil. Mahogany, and Red Oak....have been since Ford was President - at least in SoCal.......Old dogs....I guess.

 

Something not mentioned but should be noted is iron. Oak is particularly prone to "blackening" around fasteners. Oak has a high percentage of tannin. Tannin reacts with iron and causes black stains that cannot be sanded out. Look into if your fasteners have a iron content. As for a finish, I would go on a wood working forum like "Knots" and ask around. Best to deal with people that are experts in their field. On the subject of gloss finishes though, they are not slippery at all. Canoe paddles are not typically gloss polyed, varnished, urethaned etc. because they are to grippy and cause blisters. And lastly on the subject of wood, if I wanted oak I would choose white oak which is a substantially better exterior wood than red oak. I am hoping to be redoing the bed of my 56 in about 2 years, so this is good reading for me. Have fun! Peter

 

This link also has some good suggestions.


http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finishing.html

 

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I have a complete brand new set of steel bed strips available for a song if anyone is rebuilding their bed this winter.

 

Are they Stainless or Metal...

 

Hi AK,

Here, I'll be the hijacker


Are those plain steal needing paint, or stainless?

J!

 

Hi Julie,

Thanks for all of your information. And I appreciate you getting this informative conversation going. I have applied sand and seal from minwax all over the boards and will sand the top smooth and apply the Helmspar urethane coating. I will thin it with the mineral spirits as suggested. And subsequent coating will be using less and then no dilution for final coat. Probably around 5 coats. I am very jelous to hear that you have a 16' Chris Craft..my favoite boat in the world is a Garwood split cockpit 16' "sweet sixteen"
speedboat. These were fitted and built in 1940 with a 90 HP Chrysler L-head Ace 6. What a beautiful mahogany boat.
Hey if you can please post a picute of your CrisCraft for us!!
I have built a few things..47 Indian Chief, 1930 Salt flats Roadster per Vern Tardel instructions, 1955 Pontiac Star Chief and now my 56 F-100..maybe some day a two tone wooden boat.

 

I sure will. Here's a picture of the 15 foot "CONVAIR" boat I also own. One of the first civilian Fiberglass hulled speedboats in California (built 1949). Here it is with my 55 F-100 a few years back. I can't get the others to download onto FTE for some dumb reason. So let me do some work and try to load them.



J!

PS Ok I got a couple to load. Downloading photo's on this site is like getting stuck in a revolving door sometimes.

The firs tone is modern the second one was taken in 1950 (when my dad had the boat when he was at NAS Moffet Field for flight tests of the XFY Pogo.)





At his time it had a Studebaker Flat head 6 in it. Now it has a Buick 262 V6 out of a 64 Skylark - and needs again to be reingined - thinking about a Toyota 22R. Engine is mounted baskwards and is direct drive off the Harmonic balance!

 

Well, they are not more expensive here, that is why the comment was made. Since you are ordering 1 x 8 strips x 96" it seems Ash and Hickory are more expensive in that size.

As far as oil goes, any good deck oil works for my deck and for my flatbed wood, including Thompson's. If Thompson's was not a good product, it would not sell so well, would it?

I would not use (and never recommended) oil on a boat deck. When I am talking about a deck, I am talking about the two on my house, and the wood on my flatbed truck. Works real fine, lasts a long time............