Glad you stuck around to see this wood-finishing project through to completion. I told you it wasn't going to happen overnight, didn't I! Perfection, or anything remotely close to it, takes time, patience, and even a little more time. If you want people to walk away from your truck stunned by the beauty of your bed wood, be prepared to put forth your best effort-you will thank yourself in the long run (and maybe even remember where you got the inspiration from!).
Last month we left off as the MinWax Ebony oil-based stain was soaking into the ash boards' grains. Staining or even painting isn't necessarily a vital part of finishing the wood; it's all personal taste combined with whatever overall look you're trying to achieve with your truck. As I mentioned, since my '53 will one day end up with a pistachio-lime green and black two-tone on the exterior, I thought adding a black stain to the light wood would make a dramatic effect-we'll soon see. Staining the wood took minimal time to accomplish. The varnishing and subsequent sanding and polishing, however, required much more time and effort. But there's no way around it, so let's dive in.
While finishing off varnish is just like cutting and rubbing a new paint job (color or wet-sanding and polishing), the steps beforehand are completely opposite. With paint, you have an opaque base of primer-sealer on top of any underlying bodywork. The smoothness of your finish on top relies heavily on how smooth the bodywork is underneath. With wood, unless you're painting it (which is commonly done), the smoothness of the finish is dependent on your ability to cut the layers of varnish down evenly-without burning through to the stain-until you achieve the desired look. In other words, you don't have Bondo or spot putty to fill any voids in the grain if you're after that glasslike finish. So that means plenty of layers of varnish, each one taking a full day to apply and fully cure before the next one can go down. Are you starting to see where the big time factor works into the project?
Fortunately, Bruce Horkey supplies customers with very detailed instructions. As a matter of fact, there isn't anything that isn't addressed-from wood preparation to handling to each and every individual varnishing step, it's there for you. Most experienced woodworkers would likely not need the reference; for the so-called amateur like myself, despite having some prior knowledge, the instruction sheets can make the difference between a job you're proud of and one you'd like to do over. I've tried to illustrate the important steps of varnishing, as well as the wet-sanding and polishing, to give you a somewhat decent visual reference to go along with the written word.
Good luck with your efforts. If you follow the appropriate steps and take your time, you'll end up with a bed that'll be envied by all.
For the first two coats, you want to "reduce" the varnish with thinner 3-1 (75 percent varnish to 25 percent thinner). I grabbed a handful of mixing cups (with lids) from the hardware store for mixing and application. Sealed tight, the varnish can be used again, but do not put it back in the original can after reducing. | 
Evenly coat all sides of each board, but don't overdo it. (Always start with the bottom sides; mine had already been done at this point.) The varnish can be applied with a varnish-specific brush or a sponge applicator. I found the brush worked best in the grooves. | 
The sponge seemed to provide the best results for me on big, flat areas, leaving the least amount of bubbles, but most importantly, not leaving behind any bristles for me to carefully pick out. When applying each coat, make sure to lightly pull the sponge/brush the full length of each board to help even out the varnish. However, the varnish is self-leveling, so stroke marks will lay down as the varnish cures. |
The slow-drying varnish is pretty much like that old flytrap tape-anything that comes in contact is now part of it, so keep your work area clean! Air bubbles are another issue altogether, but can be dealt with as the varnish coats build up. After applying three thinned coats (the third with 10 percent thinner), apply at least two full-strength coats of varnish. The wood is not fully sealed until you have at least three coats (total) applied. | 
Immediately after applying each coat, use light reflection to check for any dry spots, like this. Address them before the varnish begins to tack up (get sticky), or else just wait until the coat has dried. I would usually put a coat of varnish on each morning and then allow it to dry for 24 hours, even though the recommended drying time is a little less. | 
After the second coat of varnish and each subsequent one, lightly sand each board (always "with" the grain) to remove any debris and help level out the surface. Be cautious not to cut through the varnish on the edges. Horkey's supplies 280-grit dry paper for the initial sanding. |
After sanding each board, follow with fine Scotch-Brite to remove any remaining gloss and get the edges and grooves. This will give the forthcoming coat of varnish a good bite to adhere to. Depending on the surface of the wood you start with, five coats of varnish will typically do the job. However, if you want a "glass" surface when all's said and done, you'll probably want to build up the surface more in order to cut it back down. I ended up with a total of eight coats. | 
Once you're satisfied with the varnish's surface, it's time to get wet-sanding, that is. For this you'll need a sufficient amount of 600- and 1,000- (or 1,200) grit wet-dry paper, a sanding pad (shown), and a squeegee. The final sanding is to take down any imperfections and level out the surface, just like color-sanding paint. However, you can only cut down a certain amount, so if you have any real low spots, you might want to consider adding more varnish. | 
See all the specks or dots within the grain after the water has been squeegeed off? Those are air bubble pits. Because I had built up the varnish, I was able to cut the surface down enough to get rid of them without burning through. |