Making progress on the Bed, have a few questions?

[Green77bus]

Ok so we have made some great progress on the truck this winter and trying to wrap things up so we can get this girl on the road. We are in the midst of replacing the plywood that the last owner put in the bed but the truck needed body work before we could get to the bed. Well body work done and the wood is cut now I am working on getting the poly on it. I am wondering how many coats people are putting on for good protection. I am seeing 4-5 and then other places 6-8. As you will see in the pictures we are building the bed out of pine that we have burned and it gives it cool coloring. would love to hear any hints that anyone has about the poly and what you think of the wood so far.

[chevylookin]

I have never used poly. The two truck beds I have done, I stained and used left over auto clear, cut and buff. Looks like glass. You just have to wait awhile for the stain to set up, degrease the wood and then put a couple tack coats of clear on & then shoot the clear regular after that. Works for me.

[Green77bus]

Thanks for the information.

[chevylookin]

No sweat. Are you planning on staining the wood or poly clear? Did you want to roll it on or spray? Are you going to sand in between coats? I have poly'd furniture and found that 3 coats is plenty. I would suggest just two simple coats of auto clear on that bare burnt wood would look really nice. Less work and time. Since the boards are flat, it is so easy to wet sand and buff them out to a mirror shine if thats what youre going for. Or satin too.

[pwrbrkpadguy]

Hey Green77, your bed looks great. I did 4 coats of Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane, sanded with 600 grit looks like a sheet of glass. I used the Helmsman because it is a marine grade polyurethane. Don't forget to do the underside and the edges for full protection from the elements

[Green77bus]

Originally Posted by pwrbrkpadguy

Hey Green77, your bed looks great. I did 4 coats of Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane, sanded with 600 grit looks like a sheet of glass. I used the Helmsman because it is a marine grade polyurethane. Don't forget to do the underside and the edges for full protection from the elements

I got the Same polyurethane in the satin finish. We are not looking for a glass finish because our truck is far from perfect. But want to have the bed look good. I was going to sand between coats and I guess reading your post that is the right idea. I am coating the underside and the ends first and then I will be coating the top and sides once the bottom is done. We love the color of the wood because our truck is a hot rod black and will need more work next winter and we will be able to have the bed done at that point for the most part. Thanks for the information that will be really helpful since I was not sure on how many coats it would take. This truck is garaged all the time except for when it is on the road so I hope that this bed will last us a while.

Erin