Jim Gaspard Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I just read Grey Beard's technical paper on replacing wood in a Pilothouse bed. I'm thinking of cutting and routing red oak boards myself to the proper dimensions. I have length and width dimensions as posted. Does anyone have the section profile of the 3/4 inch wood planks. The edge flanges of each plank are routed 1/2 inch thick and 3/4 wide on both sides for the five center boards. Questions are: 1. Inner boards (5 each) - 7 3/8 inches wide. Are the edge flanges routed 1/2 inch flat or is it a V cut to grab the metal strip? 2. Outer boards (2 each) - 7 3/4 inches wide. Are the 1/2 inch edge flanges equal on both sides, or does the outer side have a wider flange cut? Can some lead me to a prior post with the two boards section profiles, or post a hand sketch? Thanks...Jim in Dallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I used these dimentions from Mar-K http://www.mar-k.com/bedwooddimensions.pdf Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave72dt Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 The metal strip is shaped like a C channel and is not flat on the outer edges. A groove is cut on the inside a bit deeper than the flange so the edges of the metal strip will drop in and not allow the board to slide around. By measuring exixting bolt holes in the cross rails, you should be able to determine how wide the flange nneds to be. I'd probably leave machining that flange until after the all the bed wood and strips has been mocked up and scribe fit it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDyls3 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 There is no need to rout a groove or rabbet the edge. If you use the lumber just cut to size, when you tighten down the bed strip bolts the strip will bite into the wood and hold it securely. Nor do you need to rout a recess for the oval washer on the bolts that hold the bed to the frame. I might be wrong, but I believe this is how they came from the factory (in addition to being painted black). Plus if you do it this way the metal strip stays proud of the wood allowing any load you carry to ride on the strips and not damage the wood. I built mine this way, using an unfinished cedar (which, yes, is rather soft) that will silver nicely as it ages. My though was why spend all this time getting a furniture quality finish, since there really isn't one that's going to hold up for any length of time, when you can instead use a cheaper wood that will handle weather on its own and that can be replaced pretty painlessly when it needs it. But then again I plan on using mine as a truck, so there's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msjenkins Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I used the Mar-K dimensions and the grooves work great. The grooves allow the metal C-channels to be just installed just slightly elevated over the wood but not sit completely on top. Gives it a much more finished look. It's a lot more work to do the routing but I think it makes it look better (IMHO) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coW52Dodge Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I might be wrong, but I believe this is how they came from the factory (in addition to being painted black). I'm going to need to replace the bed on mine when it get here and have been debating to use pressure treated wood, machine it and paint it with that truck bed liner stuff. It will be black, rot resistant and hopefully not slick as hogsnot when wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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