The secret life of mud pans

When carpenters have to do the rare tape-and-mud job, it can seem that more mud ends up on jeans and floors than on walls and ceilings. Consequently, the mud pan sits in a dusty corner of the shop while the plasterers take care of business. Recently, I figured out a way to put my drywaller's mud pan to work.

These days, I use my drywaller's mud pan as an outfeed support for my chopsaw. By sheer coincidence, the height of my chopsaw's table and the depth of my mud pan are the same. The pan's dimensions and its stocky shape help it to stay put during use as an outfeed support. After I make small pieces of wood out of big ones, I turn the mud pan on its side and use it as a dustpan. The paintbrush as whisk broom is a story still to be told.

Bill St. Amant, Williamstown, MA

From Fine Homebuilding 141, pp. 32 September 1, 2001

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The secret life of mud pans

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