Technical truck wood bed wood sealer

I'm working on my 37 Ford Pickup and am ready to stain and seal the red oak planks for the bed. I've fitted everything, still gotta sand the wood, then stain. My question is what is the best sealer to use once I stain it. Any help is appreciated.

 

I used marine spar varnish. Seems like it works well.
don

 

I would suggest spar urethane finish like Minwax or Cabot's,both offer excellent UV protection. HRP

 

There was a thread on here asking the same thing awile back. As I remember someone that builds woodies said DO NOT USE SPAR VARNISH !!!!!!!!! He used automotive clear coat. Spar varnish will never fully harden was his thoughts.

 

I lived with and loved my Sail boats with varnished Teak topsides but the problem with Spar varnish is you have to constantly sand it and reapply. Also it scratches easily. I like the epoxy clearcoat for things like a pickup bed.

 

Big difference in varnish and urethane's,wood expands and contracts and automotive finishes lack the capability's to do so without cracking over a period of time.HRP

 

Yes I agree. Never had it fail.

 

i use tompson water sealer for wood decking

 

Is it staying in the garage when not driven or sitting outside? That should dictate your choice.
I believe marine spar varnish will protect better in the long run if it is parked outside very much.
It's not used on boats for just looks.

 

Me too, looks good. satin finish but still has a nice little shine...

 

what happened to good old linseed oil ??? people do not seal with that anymore ?? we used to use that on the boats ( tug )to seal the wood work up

 

Linseed oil is the answer , slop it on , slop it on , slop it on !

 

Linseed oil is a good penetrant. But not a good sealer. It actually wears off the surface with time. I use it on my 150 year old flooring in the house. Perfect finish for that application but I too have to reapply every few years.

Also only use boiled linseed. Not the raw stuff. Raw linseed will turn the whole wood surface black. It'll ruin the look forever.

 

Proper finish with linseed oil is done like this : wipe it on actually rubbing it in , then wipe off. Do this once a day for a week . Then once a week for a month. Then once a month for a year. Then once a year forever. Gives you a durable finish.

 

Are you going to use it or look at it?

If you are going to use it oil it, if you are going to look at it then Marine Spare Varnish

 

I like oil finishes, durable, easy to touch up, they do need to be reapplied, do it when you wax the truck, wipe on, wipe off.
Might consider a different coating on the backside of the wood panel, oil based paint.

Helped a friend put a new wood bed in his truck, used long dunnage boards from a shipping dock he got for free, ripped, routered, sanded. Finish was used motor oil from a pump sprayer, set it in the sun for a day and run it thru the car wash. 20 years later it looks good, gets a new coat of "sealer" once /year.

 

Actually wood needs to breath, I seldom completely envelope it. I have seen wood that is completely sealed rot from the inside out.

 

I spent almost 50 years in retail and wholesale of paints & varnishes,Thompson's water seal is the joke of the industry. HRP

 

Amen to that !
dave

 

I agree. Used that crap on the cedar siding on my house to keep it from getting that dark look, wanted it to keep the cedar reddish look. After a couple of years, it turned dark, almost black in places. Won't come off, either. I'd been as well off to just have painted the wood the color I wanted it.

 

Right-O.
But another option to consider, 3 part mix. 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 marine spar varnish and 1/3 mineral spirits.
Best of both worlds. The spar gives you some UV protection in the mix, the linseed gives great protection and the mineral spirits helps it all go deep into the wood.
Not a pretty show finish, but durable and easy with a matte sheen. Re-coats easy as the mineral spirits soften the previous coats to blend the new.

Usually a coat, wait two weeks, then once every year or two depending on circumstances.

 

I used "West Epoxy". It's a premium clear used to seal up the wood, but it left a shiny finish I didn't like so I scuffed it and put a couple of coats of satin urethane.

 

on the farm this is how we treated the wooden hay trailers 5 gallons of used motor oil and a mop and let it set for a few days in the sun and it was ready to use , we would treat them every few years when the layer wore off .

 

I use the west system epoxy resin on my Chris craft mahogany boats . Works great.

 

I used oil based polyurethane on my F1 bed.

 

Thanks for all the advise. A local friend of mine that's restored wooden boats for 40+ years turned me on to a product called "West Marine" premium varnish. Kinda pricey but that's the path I'm taking. 1st coat is 1:1 ratio with mineral spirits and it steps down as other coats are applied.

 

If it will see limited rain on it.....Watco Danish oil. If it starts to get dried out looking, no need to sand it.....just apply another coat or two. Been on my roadster p.u. Since 1985! Very easy to apply.....just wipe on and wipe off per directions on can. It's used on high end furniture!

 

Danish oil is a really nice and doesn't chip.

When I was little my mom got a teakwood table with a Danish Oil finish, the instructions said to treat it one a year with boiled linseed oil. That would have been 50+ years ago. my sis got it for a house warming in her first apt. She uses it now for outdoor dinning on her patio. She wipes it down once a year with boiled linseed oil. It has never been refinished and still looks like it did when we were kids, other then a dent or two that the years have provided..

 

I'm just about to do the bed of my '59 Dodge. It would have come from the factory with rough sawn southern yellow pine -painted black. I unexpectedly came into a stash of the correct yellow pine wood -not that common around here- and it is now milled (rough) & waiting for finish.

This truck will live outside and get used as a truck, so I'm thinking black deck paint as (more-or-less) original, or black nearly opaque deck stain.

Interested on your thoughts on paint vs stain.

 

Always had good results with a true oil based stain. Being from CA, hard to find. They are all now "oil modified" which ain't the same.

However, oil based stains never really "dry" and you may not want the black showing up on the items you haul.