1948 Thriftmaster

[BillM]

A little progress to report. Worked away at cutting open the wheel openings, and I had to cut off the front panel of the box just at the very bottom. I mocked up the bed angles, tubs and a couple of pieces of wood with the strips today - just making sure that it all works out. It all looks good, so now to stain and oil the wood, and paint the angles and strips.

 

[DozerII]

That's working out awesome Bill. [P[P

 

[joedoh]

gorgeous! with a captial gorg!

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Looking good! [cl

.

 

[soltz]

That looks sweet!!!!![cl
~~[P~~

 

[Torchie]

^^^^^^^^^^ All of the above^^^^^^^
Plus a [cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[I-R-POPS]

That's simply beautious!!

 

[BillM]

Thank you everyone! Yeah, we are real pleased with it so far, I have one coat of stain on the wood now - a custom blend of a couple of stains - per my colour co-ordinator! We wanted that "old-timey" look. We also figured out a colour for the strips, angles and tubs so that they blend in as well. I need to back track a little bit and get the angle holes drilled, and relieve the outer two wood pieces for the wheel tubs, before I finish the paint and staining....

Here's the first coat of stain on.

 

[DozerII]

Oak was a good choice. [P[P

 

[Torchie]

Wood looks great.[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[BillM]

Thanks guys. It's actually Sassafras, not oak. It looks just like oak, but it's lighter, softer and supposedly rot resistant. It's got a real different smell though.
...and a compliment from Torchie about wood work? Wow!

 

[Old Iron]

Yep, root beer [dr

 

[23crate]

wow that Sassafras has a beautiful grain, deep rich coloring... ! that will will look way cool !!

trailer fenders make a nice job of the wheel wheels too

 

[BillM]

I pulled the box off again so I could weld the front mounts, finished the rear wood support (now that the floor is 5" above stock). I reinstalled the box, squared it up and test fitted the wood, strips, angles and tubs. So far everything is working out just fine. It's all just sitting in there, I'll be painting all the steel parts and oiling the wood before the final install. I'm waiting on fasteners anyway (non-essentials take a long time to arrive now).

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Looks great, Bill!

I learned something today... I thought "sassafras" was strictly a Bugs Bunny thing!

.

 

[forbigpicture]

^^HAHAHA^^^^

Really nice Bill, can't wait to see the finish..

[P [P

 

[bob w]

Extremely very nice.

 

[I-R-POPS]

Awesome!!
Where do you buy sassafras wood? I've never heard of it before. It is nice. [cl[cl

 

[DozerII]

Just love the bed wood Bill. [cl[cl

 

[BillM]

Thanks everyone, like I said we are real pleased with it as well (even my colour co-ordinator/inspector )

POPS - it's a local wood around here, although I'd never really heard of it before either. I was going to try to use some of my own wood, (we have black walnut around here that grows like weeds). I didn't really plan it well enough to get some dried and milled for when I wanted it, so I went to see a local guy that has a kiln and mill. We discussed many options but settled on the sassafras - it looks like oak, isn't real heavy or hard to work with, and supposedly somewhat rot resistant. Just over $100 for enough in rough sawn. I planed it and then used a table saw to finish the corner grooves off just like the original planks. Like I said before, the only issue was the weird smell (I'm not a root beer lover - LOL)