Wood Bed

Back in November and December of 2013 when I was planning the project a problem surfaced with the wood.  The original wood on this truck was exactly 1" thick hardwood.  Over 60 years later we dont use 1" wood.  For example if you buy a 1" x  wood at Home Depot its really less than 1" .  Its the same with a 2 x4 its not really 2" thick.

After some research I was able to find a solution.  I had to buy raw hardwood lumber from a mill.  The most common use was for hardwood floors but I had to find a size called  5/4 raw hardwood or (1 1/4 ) and then have it cut and planed to fit.  I found a source for raw hardwood and settled on African Mahogany as it should last outside and provide a great look.  I purchased the wood in December but finally by March the guys were ready to plane it and size it in the final Bed.

One of the reasons it look so long was we had to find another 47 Dodge truck that had the flat bed frame intact.  Eventually we found one but it was buried in snow and ice and we had to wait until the weather thawed to go torch the bed frame for the parts we needed.   After Ashley Wheelright found the truck then had to go remove the bed in the back of a yard he was able to get the final dimensions for the bed correct.

Here are the results of this several months of work to get the wood bed to look right.