Traveller wood repair? advice?

[1mustard]

Hello all,
does anyone have experience on repairing traveller wood? basically i bought a second hand side in great condition, however there is a patch of rot on one middle rail, its strange because its such good condition i can't believe its been fitted, possibly in storage or perhaps its been dipped, but i don't think so, the rail is really solid, and just needs a repair.
I am not going to replace it, and i read the good article on wood prep etc in mmoc.
I want a repair that blends in (obviously!) and is not going to come apart, i'm thinking mixing sawdust with liquid resin or wood glue, then sanding etc after.
If anyone has used or knows a better idea let me know.
Thanks all
Andy

[bmcecosse]

Ask Dennis (aupickup) and post up a picture - but honestly - I think you would be better to do it right - and fit a new section if you are going to all the trouble of fitting a 'new' side to your Traveller.

[daveallgood]

You'll be wasting your time if you think you can repair it with sawdust and wood glue. It's a solution which would work on a small imperfection. You only have two options; either replace that rail (best solution), or cut out the affected area, (and beyond), and splice in a new piece, which would not be easy unless you have sharp tools, can find a piece of ash which matches in terms of colour and grain, and have at least some woodworking skills. There's a lot of potential for making a complete balls up of it, but don't let me put you off.

[billlobban]

I repaired part of mine (it really should have been replaced - next year ) with Ronseal High Performance Wood Filler - the kind that you have to mix with hardner. Looks, smells, performs like body filler which I suppose is just what it is. The slight problem is colour its only available in dark, light and white. Ronseal's tech department told me to mix wood dye with the filler before adding the hardner which allows you to mathch the colour quite well BUT it makes the filler dry crumbly and it then doesnt sand down very well.
What I did in the end was fill and sand just like a bit of bodywork then coat only the fillled part with coloron wood dye and then more layers of woodstain on the filled part than on the wood until they matched ( I had to stain mine darker than original as no amount of sanding/ bleaching was going to restore the original wood). If done carefully the repair is almost invisible.
(Dennis is probably cringing as he reads this)
Then I boobed after the woodstain I decided to apply a couple of coats of 5 year exterior varnish (from the same people) only trouble is the varnish wont dry (10 days still tacky in places). Apparently again according to Ronseal Tech you have to wait about a month before applying varnish.
It doesnt tell you that on the bl***y tin.

[1mustard]

thanks for the advice all, i know the best solution is to replace the rail concerned, but i am going to repair. So basically you used the woodfiller and got a good end result? you did'nt bother with the wood dye?, sounds favourite to me. thanks
10 days what a nightmare, i bet there was a few dead insects in there! cheers

[billlobban]

No I used the wood dye on the surface of the filler after it had hardend. It takes the dye quite well. Just make sure you dont coat the wood as well or you're back to square one with 2 different colours. I think I used two more coats of woodstain on the filler than on the wood to make it blend in better

[pegasus]

I`me with bmcecosse, the best way is to replace the rail while you have the side off. It will have to be done eventually anyway.
I can understand it if the side is on the car, but imo false economy if the side is off and the joints and screws are easy to get to. The rail is only £45 from traveller timbers inc vat.
Mark