Timbermate

[pablopepper]

As I'm doing my first ash body (RC-4) it has become apparent that I'm going to have to grain fill, something I have not needed to do in the past. I have read many times that timbermate is the go, but my compulsion to research rather than wing it has left me with a few questions.

First of all, when to apply. Do I administer timbermate to a completely untouched body or should I sand to a specific point first?

Secondly, when I was looking at timbermate in the big green shed, I found it came in an ebony colour. Would this be a suitable method for 'popping' the grain?

Lastly, does the timbermate accept stain after it has cured? I know you can colour it beforehand, but if I use one of the lighter colours, will dingotone (for example) colour it at the same rate as the surrounding wood?

Sorry if these have been asked or answered elsewhere. I like to be prepared.

[kanelangmaid]

Pablo,

The way I did it for true Rose was to sand fairly roughly to start with to have a generally good surface to start. Apply the timbermate water down to a fairly runny paste. Let it dry for a day or so then sand to your hearts content. Looking back I probably would have done a second coat to ensure I filled in every pore.

Pics below. This one is the before and after grain comparison.



I played around with tinting mine and used some test pine, but the timbermate didn't do much colouring the pine. However I found out that the kit absorbed the tint so much better in the first place.

True Rose completed

[kanelangmaid]

Here are another two pics.

Firstly, standard timbermate, and on the left the black japan tinted version.



This is then sanded back, this pine only took a little colour as you can see on the left. I found it needed two coats of the stain to achieve the same depth to one coat on my guitar kit (paulownia). The guitar absorbed the stain so much better but grain was more open.

[gavinturner]

hi Pablo,

Personally I always sand to 400 grit before filling the pores with Timbermate. This means that when I sand with 400 and then higher grades I don't take it back out of the pores. After the Timbermate I dont think you want to be removing big swathes of wood - otherwise the Timbermate just goes with it. I have used 'Walnut' colour on mahogany and it comes out very nicely. It's not black like 'Ebony' but a dark brown. Pops the grain nicely. I guess it depends on what you want the final result to look like. I also use 'Maple'colour in basswood.

The Timbermate does accept dye without an issue. Of course the end colour depends on the initial colour of the Timbermate! This is with Colortone dye mind you. I can't speak for Wudtone or Dingotone unfortunately.

cheers,
Gav.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Pablo, I agree with Gavs tips and GavT has used about 2 pallets more than me of timbermate so he's the guru !
Makes sense to sand to 400 grit initially and higher grades after, otherwise lower grades will sand the timbermate away

[pablopepper]

Thanks for the tips guys. Wouldn't sanding to 400 be too polished for wudtone/dingotone?

I'm really up in the air about how to finish this thing. My first thought was to go with a water based stain, but have been reading that ash stains very unevenly with water based products, so I started considering tinted laquer. Then I saw the bondi blue dingotone..... I'm so confused.

[wokkaboy]

Pablo I haven't used enough timbermate to be a guru, but if staining I think if you sand to 240 grit before timbermate application that should be fine enough, then 240 grit after the timbermate has dried.
I think DT bondi blue or a colourtone blue will look excellent.
How many pieces of ash are glued in the body ? I've build about 5 or 6 ash kits and found different pieces take stain differently, so it will be hard to get a consistent colour stain unless you apply a heap of coats and work on getting lighter areas darker

[ponch]

Thanks for this post. Ive got an ex next to me ready to be mated.

[wokkaboy]

good stuff Andrew, even solid painting the body will be smoother with timbermate before the primer coat

[ponch]

Sorry to hijack, but timbermate the neck? It seems to have a tighter grain and has sanded up nice and smooth up to 220 so far. Should I just sand up to 400 then primer?