Willem's Epi '84 Explorer EXA-1

[WeirdBits]

And, remember it's a set neck, so you have to be a little careful with the neck heel where it gets glued into the body. It needs a bit of 'tooth' for the glue to grip on, so don't sand the heel too fine in the glue zone. And, when it comes to finishing, make sure you don't get any finish on that area or the glue won't hold. I normally sit the neck in place in the body then use strips of masking tape to mark the position of where the body comes to around the neck heel, remove the neck then pencil a line a few mm's in from the tape's edge around the heel and that's my mark for where to stop for the sanding/finish.

[Willem]

okay so I have it sanded up to 240 and I'm going to go over it one more time before timbermate so my question is how much do I need and how do I go about working out a 10-15% warm water mix and how do I apply it?

[wokkaboy]

Hi Willem, how much timbermate you got about 500g ? I'd put say about 80grams into a container and put a little water in, mix it up, it should be a fairly thick slurry and not too thin. You can apply it with a plastic paint scraper or a piece of wood with a sharpish edge.
Once you have done it a few times you will know the correct water ratio. If you do make it too thin just add a bit more timbermate. Treat it like mixing cement.
Don't mix too much or you will have some left over, it's easier to make another mix if you run out.
Try and apply it over the entire body and let it dry for a few hours before sanding it off

[Willem]

I've got the body set up hanging will that be alright? I'm planing on mixing 41/2 tsp of timbermate with 1/2 tsp of warm water and see how that goes and then apply it while the body is hanging upside down so I can get to all sides

[wokkaboy]

yeah no worries Willem, might be easier to apply it flat on a surface, let it dry then do the other side. See how you go, you can probably apply it hanging if you hold the body with one hand.

[Willem]

Timbermate is on the back and sides now just need to wait for that to dry do the front and then get sanding

[wokkaboy]

cool good stuff Willem, looks like you piled it on, nice, that will fill the grain nicely.

[Willem]

top coat is on the mix came out a little chunky rather than completely smooth like the first batch but it seemed to smooth out as I spread it so hopefully that turns out okay

[bargeloobs]

Should do the trick nicely.

[wokkaboy]

looks good Willem. If you need to do another coat of grain filler it's no big deal. Looks like you covered the body nicely