Ban Silencer and Death Prophet. Do not pick Timbersaw against these heroes!
Take neutral items that make you tankier or give you mana regen.

Game plan:

Early game:
Timbersaw is very squishy at level 1. He has 1.7 armor (9%) and 680 HP. He also has really bad attack damage.
We can solve both of these problems by building strength items. Get 2 Gauntlets and a Circlet to start and then rush a Bracer. This gives us 160 HP and 8 damage to start the game off.
Get 1 set of tangoes and then buy another set as soon as the game starts.

Levels 1-2.
In most scenarios you want to play defensively.
If against a strength carry you can easily kill them with Whirling Death spam at level 1.
If paired with an aggressive kill support (Bounty Hunter, Spirit Breaker) level Timber Chain instead and play aggressively.
As soon as you have Reactive Armor start agroing creeps constantly to heal yourself.
Levels 3-4 play moderately. Spam Whirling Death and trade a few hits.
Level 5 play more aggressively. Put yourself between the carry and the wave and smack them anytime they come close and use Whirling Death on them.
Level 6 try to kill the carry. This should be easy by spamming Chakram.
Level 7 take the safe lane tower. Rotate mid at 10 minutes and take the mid tower with the catapult.

If this game plan fails or you are playing against Ancient Apparition go to Losing Game section of item build. Game play remains mostly the same.


Mid game:
Take over their side of the map and farm Bloodstone.

Farm their jungle.
Put wards in their jungle to scout ganks so you don't die.
Constantly apply pressure to safe lane T2.
Gank other lanes and show up to all fights.

If you feel like you explode or you aren't having a good time pause the Bloodstone to get Lotus or Hood.
As soon as you have Bloodstone go to Late Game.


Late game:
Fight as often as possible.
You should be farming and pushing a lot too.
Farm utility or defensive items first: Pipe, Lotus, Scythe of Vyse.


Item build isn't set in stone but is approximately correct for most games.