I think Marshalltown makes one. You probably wont find one at a supply house since nobody uses the things. Hand work. Who has time when we can shell out 5K on a bazooka and set of hockey boxes? But they’re finicky. Least I think so. I vastly prefer the flat knives. DW mud sticks too much to a trowel for me. Now plaster on the other hand – but thats neither here nor there. Try Marshalltown, and try by looking in a supply book at somewhere that can order it for ya.
View Image | 14 X 4 1/2 (35,56cm X 11,43cm) Drywall Trowel w/Curved DuraSoft¯ Handle |
Yup. They make several.
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” – Mark Twain
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yeah, Marshalltown.
I think he's looking for a bent or curved trowel.
It leaves mud on when used to second coat flat work over the tape.
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Yeah they have them. Try a good mason supply.
Our local HD (DE) carries a 12" curved drywall trowel in stainless steel with a nice padded grip - can't remember how much $. Brand name was on a sticker, I don't remember as sticker is long gone.
I bought one a while ago and only use it for butt joints - takes some getting used to as angle of trowel to wall is very fussy.
Option #2 is bending a regular 12" knife to produce a curve, and then remembering it is bent and which way!
I've sworn off knives which are not stainless steel due to rust problems when using the setting type compounds. That Quick Set 20 really goes fast when the summer heat rolls in!
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
I just use the same trowel that I do concrete flatwork with. Am I screwing up?
blue
"Am I screwing up?"Yes. The flat trowel is for D-mix, not regular drywall.
Most guys round here use knives instead of trowels. One guy who did, a local drunk who was none-the-less a great drywall guy, would recreate his set of drywall trowels every year or so. He would pawn or trade his set going into a bender. A month or two later he would buy cheap regular trowels or buy decent ones at garage sales or flea markets.
He would then borrow a small grinder and sander to grind and polish a set of regular trowels into the shape he liked for drywall work. Took him a couple of hours to create his set. He would cup the edges on a couple and thin the steel on all of them so it flexed the way he liked. As I remember it he had something like six trowels. With this modified set of concrete trowels he could finish drywall faster and better than anyone I ever saw. A real finishing machine. He would put in long days for a month or more.
Then one day he would tell the boss he was stopping at the end of the coming week. He would always give good notice. Then he would be on the downstroke.
Point being you could probably create your own trowels. Worth a try. Given the going price for used trowels at flea markets it might be an interesting project. On the other hand I would think any distributor carrying any of the better brands of trowels could order what you want.
All good points. And yes, the trowel pictured is for DW, and has a slight cup to it. Most guys I know that do much mudding with hand tools do like the story and modify things to suit their liking. Some round off the sharp edges. Some bend a flat knife so it has a cup to it. I also prefer the stainless. Between rust and hot mud - it's so much easier to clean the things off with stainless for some reason. I actually, being a Sherwin fan for paint, tried out their stainless knives with the nice curvy cushy handle. Man, I do like them quite well. Mostly I like the amount of flex in them. Feels just right to my hand. And once I tried out a 3 ft spray shield for leveling out a really really bad ceiling. You know, I went into it thinking today I'll figure out why this doesn't work, but it did. Very well, actually."If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Every HD store in my area carries those curved trowels.
A guy started me out with those back in the late 60's. Sure, go ahead and get those out of your system - along with the banjo and inside corner trowel. I think you'll settle in on drywall knives as mentioned, and a pan rather than the hawk - though I'm sure there are exceptions around that can tape circles around me.
Drywall taping is interesting (like pizza'a) everybody tapes a little different, and it seems everybody gets there one way or another. I'm open to any new technique.
It's funny it was mentioned there was a "drunk that was a great taper" - there was one around here several years ago, and he was the one who happened by and told me to "get rid of that banjo, those curved trowels (they use too much mud), use a brush to put the mud on in the corners..." I've decided now he was right - but I'm open to a better way still.....
I don't do a lot of taping, but I do use a curved trowel when I do. I have 2- a 10" and a 12" . The 10" is my all purpose tool: the 12" is for feathering out flat seams.
It may not be the way a lot of guys tape, but it works for me.
thanks for all the input.Like I mentioned, my 1st time at this. the ceiling is the hardest, even being 6'5". that video by taunton i mentioned in the 1st post, the guy made the cured trowel look SO easy.I'm having a hard time covering the "mesh" tape on the butted seams.Like I said, it's really art work. Does practice make perfect or how many more rooms do I need to do.AND man, is that sanding a *itch - dust everywhere!
Drywall trowel ...
Yes, they do exist. I tried Orco, WhiteCap, looked on the web, checked Ganahls, the Depot - then found it at Lowes. go figure.
If you wanted something for concrete, WhiteCap had about 50' of wall space devoted.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.