M37 Wooden Bed

[splummer]

norm

norm i have seen home depots advertise no 1 select pine and their kiln dried lumber that has been graded and stamp,their kiln dried had a very high moisture content and their no 1 looks more like no 4 s a very sad mess. steve from western maine

[MoparNorm]

Yep, you'll never find a Lumber Bureau rating stamp alongside that "select" stamp. For starters Pine is not a legal structural wood, at least not out here, only Fir and some redwood, is allowed because of our earthquake codes, Hem Fir or Douglas Fir are the two construction grade woods that have the tensile and compressive strength to withstand earthquake movement, along with the load bearing ability, resistance to rot and insects and the fastener "holding" ability.
When you get to plywood, the rating bureau is the APA, you'll find an APA stamp alongside the sheet rating, such as B-B, A-C or others, depending upon the type and usage, most commonly used for strength in buildings is C-D-X, always look for the "X" for 'exterior glue' or sheathing rating, there will also be a span factor on the APA stamp such as 16-24 or 24-48, that tells you the maximum allowable span for both parallel and perpendicular joist placing to the face grain of the sheet.

[splummer]

Norm

our span facter for rafters and joist placement is primarly 16 0c, very rarly i have seen it 24oc,and also even here pine is not considered structural, you have earthqakes to deal with ,we have snow loads to contend with. i have seen cdx ply. used on roofs going 24 oc after a short period of time it looks pretty sloppy even with ply clips.years ago during the ,so called energy crunch houses were built with 2x6 walls ,24oc now if 2x6 are used its 16oc. steve from western maine

[splummer]

and also

the thread above refers to conventional framed houses,iam not talking about timber framed houses steve from western maine

[JStinson]

Thanks for the help. There's a sawmill in Shiloh about 20 miles away from here. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks.

[MoparNorm]

our span factor for rafters and joist placement is primarly 16 0c, very rarly i have seen it 24oc,and also even here pine is not considered structural, you have earthqakes to deal with ,we have snow loads to contend with. i have seen cdx ply. used on roofs going 24 oc after a short period of time it looks pretty sloppy even with ply clips.years ago during the ,so called energy crunch houses were built with 2x6 walls ,24oc now if 2x6 are used its 16oc. steve from western maine

Note, that is the "Maximum allowable span" of the sheet, with minimal deflection, not the designed span of the rafters or joists. Just because the sheet will span 24" or 48" without deflection does not mean that the code allows that span or that it engineers to be safe. Mostly what that means is on an non-engineered deck the sheet could span that far. I've only seen the 24-48 on 1 1/4", T&G sheets.
Spanning 24" is only done out here with 1/2" or thicker sheathing and clips are NOT allowed, all edges must be supported by framing members or blocking. The rafter or joist spacing has nothing to do with the sheathing, it's a matter of load+framing member size+ span. I think we are running far afield now and this should be addressed in the Craftsmanship section, not in the M section...= )

[splummer]

Correct

your right ,no hyjackin here,gettingback to wooden beds ,i am going to use oak for my 55 . steve from western maine

[Doc Dave]

Yep, you'll never find a Lumber Bureau rating stamp alongside that "select" stamp. For starters Pine is not a legal structural wood, at least not out here, only Fir and some redwood, is allowed because of our earthquake codes, Hem Fir or Douglas Fir are the two construction grade woods that have the tensile and compressive strength to withstand earthquake movement, along with the load bearing ability, resistance to rot and insects and the fastener "holding" ability.
When you get to plywood, the rating bureau is the APA, you'll find an APA stamp alongside the sheet rating, such as B-B, A-C or others, depending upon the type and usage, most commonly used for strength in buildings is C-D-X, always look for the "X" for 'exterior glue' or sheathing rating, there will also be a span factor on the APA stamp such as 16-24 or 24-48, that tells you the maximum allowable span for both parallel and perpendicular joist placing to the face grain of the sheet.

Norm,
As far as strenght, what you say is correct of most of the western species of the "pine/spruce fir" group, which are weaker as a whole than most of the eastern. In contrast, Loblolly pine, the predominant pine tree of the southeastern U.S., and of the group termed "southern yellow pine-SYP" is very strong, if you make sure to get a good piece-not too many knots for example. BTW, they use lower grades of SYP for treated lumber now, and also the treating process is "bad" for the wood.
I have a registered tree farm, sell timber, and have seen the data on strength of the various species. I have also built a big barn, a large machine shed and a two car garage with my own tree's lumber, mostly loblolly pine and red/white oak.
Loblolly is also relatively rot resistant for being a pine. If I did not have access to white oak that is what I would use. But, I would rather use clear white oak for a truck bed, among other things for its hardness, resistance to rot, as well as strength.
The rule of thumb for air drying "green" lumber from the sawmill is one year of drying for each inch of thickness. If a person can afford to wait a year, pick up your rough cut, preferably "clear" (of knots) white oak and let it set one year with stickers like Bobby Mike showed in his post.
For Gordon... While I probably should paint mine black to be more "original", I am very tempted ot use a good grade of marine varnish because I really like its appearance. If I were to paint it black, I have heard that blending in linseed oil to an oil based paint makes it more durable, but am not sure.
One last thing. Somewhere in my files, I found from a forestry school a working plan for a homemade small wood drier that uses the suns energy to heat and dry the wood. It looks like a small greenhouse. But that is a whole other topic, and already we are hijacking this thread.

[Gordon Maney]

iam sorry, move to maine and then you can have it. we have a few around here,the prices ,like i said may be cheaper at times,the mill i deal with is about 20 miles away.the only draw back to dealing with local sawmills is when you go there there is no ware house ,you sometimes have to wait for them to cut what you need and then you have to wait for it to fry and then you have to plane ,joint it. so sometimes iam at the mercy of store bought lumber. i have always been satisfied with the mill i deal with. when we built our house i had a wood miser sawmill to cut most of my material and was able to plane most of it myself resulting in a huge savings steve from western maine

That is really great.

[MoparNorm]

.... If I were to paint it black, I have heard that blending in linseed oil to an oil based paint makes it more durable, but am not sure...

Absolutely. Blending linseed oil is an old timers trick. Some of the polymer based paints will stand up on their own.

[BobbyMike]

Last piece of unasked for advice (at least today).

If color is wanted painting wood is ok. Staining wood is better. Paints don't penetrate into wood. They lie (lay) on the surface. Stain will penetrate into the wood itself. If you finish with an appropriate finish (satin/low gloss polyurethane or a marine spar varnish) your bed will be attractive and better suited for work use.

On the down side, staining and finishing will be more work to touch up.


Looking forward to hearing how this works out for you.

[JStinson]

Last piece of unasked for advice (at least today).

If color is wanted painting wood is ok. Staining wood is better. Paints don't penetrate into wood. They lie (lay) on the surface. Stain will penetrate into the wood itself. If you finish with an appropriate finish (satin/low gloss polyurethane or a marine spar varnish) your bed will be attractive and better suited for work use.

On the down side, staining and finishing will be more work to touch up.


Looking forward to hearing how this works out for you.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out too. I'll post pictures of it when it's done. I've done a massive amount of work on the truck during the last three weeks. It's almost ready for its first coat of OD Green paint, believe it or not. The bed (which is sitting beside the truck rather than on it) is going to be a project within itself after the main part of the truck is finished.

By the way...how does a few coats of Thompson's Water Sealer instead of black paint on the bed sound to ya'll?

Thanks for all the help.

[Keith in CO]

M37 bed

Why not just buy some diamond plate locally and use your old bed as a pattern?

[JStinson]

Why not just buy some diamond plate locally and use your old bed as a pattern?

Wood looks better. ;)

[BobbyMike]

I'm not sold on Thompson's for durability, but I have had limited experience using it. Maybe someone else?