# tips n tricks, do's n don'ts



## whos ya mudder (Mar 2, 2013)

Hi everyone, i just pulled the trigger on my very first set of taping tools (hardened by columbia) and in eager anticipation of their arrival, i thought id pass the time by finding out from you guys some tips n tricks, do's n don'ts as regards to their opperation. like i said this is my first set' and although im no newbie to drywall finishing, i am very green in the machine finishing.
looking forward to all your replies' and many thanks in advance.


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## DrywallerDustin (Mar 1, 2013)

See if somebody will show you some basic technique, the rest is just practice. The most important thing, keep them clean and well oiled, do that and you can use them for years with just basic maintenance.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

DrywallerDustin said:


> See if somebody will show you some basic technique, the rest is just practice. The most important thing, keep them clean and well oiled, do that and you can use them for years with just basic maintenance.


Well this one post sums everything up right there:thumbup:

There you go whos ya mudder:thumbup:

Thread closed:whistling2:


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

http://www.drywalltalk.com/f7/two-bucks-give-bazooka-lessons-3446/


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## whos ya mudder (Mar 2, 2013)

i was full of anticipation, now i feel it was all too little, and over way sooner than i thought.
the wife said..."welcome to my world" 
but heck, keep it clean and lubricated is advice i have been given before, but that was about something completely different.
i must admit, if i'd of known how simple it was to use these machines, i shoulda started years ago.


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

Yeah, nothing to em,,,,,,,,,:thumbup::whistling2:


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## lrees (Jan 22, 2013)

Whats proper way of doing 3 way interior corners.. with bazooka, corner roller, then flusher? Seems like they leave a lot of mud under the tape in them corners...(pulls tape off if roller or flusher gets to close to end of tape to) How do you guys go about those??


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

lrees said:


> Whats proper way of doing 3 way interior corners.. with bazooka, corner roller, then flusher? Seems like they leave a lot of mud under the tape in them corners...(pulls tape off if roller or flusher gets to close to end of tape to) How do you guys go about those??


That's too much typing:blink:

You half to clean out you ends by hand, some call it plucking, pulling, or just doing the 3 ways. You can sorta get your roller close to the ends, but not your angle head, just keep 3 or 4 inches away from ends, and clean them out by hand (knife).

If dealing with the tin angle heads, some will go right into the end, but I find it a PITA. If using angle head, trying pushing back just a bit (1/4") then go forward.

But,,, I go horizontals 1st, roll them out, then the up rights, then roll them out, making sure the tape touches the ceiling. Then angle wipe them out, clean out ends.

Video would explain better,,,,but:whistling2:


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## DN Interiors (Mar 11, 2013)

*.*

On your boxes, at the sides of the blade holders are little screws, proper adjustment of these are crucial to how they will run.

tightening the screws pushes the edges of the blades forward, leaving a wide even mud spread from edge to edge.(this is good)

Loosening the screws leaves less mud along the edges and more in the middle(crowning) (you usually wont want this)

A properly adjusted blade should catch your fingernail as you run your finger over the edge of the blade(directly over the screw) (but not too high either)

Keep blade at optimum height by tightening it one half turn or so every 5k of bf you run
Blade will need replaced when you cant tighten the screw any further(20-30k bf)


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## RenoRob (Nov 6, 2012)

2buckcanuck said:


> That's too much typing:blink:
> 
> You half to clean out you ends by hand, some call it plucking, pulling, or just doing the 3 ways. You can sorta get your roller close to the ends, but not your angle head, just keep 3 or 4 inches away from ends, and clean them out by hand (knife).
> 
> ...


I'm doing the uprights last too. Good to know that's how you do it, thought I was doing it wrong. 

How difficult is it to cut your tapes bang on to the corners with the bazooka? One thing I don't like about the banjo is the jagged edge on the tape end the cutting teeth leave in the corners.


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## bmitch (Dec 10, 2011)

RenoRob said:


> I'm doing the uprights last too. Good to know that's how you do it, thought I was doing it wrong.
> 
> How difficult is it to cut your tapes bang on to the corners with the bazooka? One thing I don't like about the banjo is the jagged edge on the tape end the cutting teeth leave in the corners.


 cutting tapes bang on to the corners.exsperience brings perfection,and not everybody does the uprights last.rolling the tape into place is just as important as cutting the upright to the proper length.the only time i'll do the upright last is if its 10' ceilings.different strokes for different...


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

lrees said:


> Whats proper way of doing 3 way interior corners.. with bazooka, corner roller, then flusher? Seems like they leave a lot of mud under the tape in them corners...(pulls tape off if roller or flusher gets to close to end of tape to) How do you guys go about those??


 Practice makes perfect is the only way to approach angle tapin and angle boxin. I probably picked corners for 2 years before I was allowed to run the tools, so I got good at pickin angles(3ways). It starts with the tape,,

length of tape being correct, amount of mud, and dryness or wetness of 3way . We use banjo so there is no extra mud, bazooka users will have extra mud. The wetter corners will set longer before they are too hard to work with. The drier tapes will tack up sooner so you can " pick " your corner right away. If wetter ( bazooka tape or banjo wide open) allow it to sit for a bit.. then try picking it. Also when glazing dont run the anglehead into the 3 way. Start at the 3 way and go, then stop before getting too close in on the other 3way.When we tape we go left to right, taping the standup angle as we go that way we can pick all angles in each room when done.:thumbsup:


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## Mudstar (Feb 15, 2008)

whos ya mudder said:


> Hi everyone, i just pulled the trigger on my very first set of taping tools (hardened by columbia) and in eager anticipation of their arrival, i thought id pass the time by finding out from you guys some tips n tricks, do's n don'ts as regards to their opperation. like i said this is my first set' and although im no newbie to drywall finishing, i am very green in the machine finishing.
> looking forward to all your replies' and many thanks in advance.


 You know if you start reading all the past threads on DWT now, I'd say in about a year along with hands on practice you will learn the method that works best for you.
Everything has been covered 10 times over, something like watching a dog chase its tail in a way. :yes:


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## gazman (Apr 29, 2011)

Mudstar said:


> You know if you start reading all the past threads on DWT now, I'd say in about a year along with hands on practice you will learn the method that works best for you.
> Everything has been covered 10 times over, something like watching a dog chase its tail in a way. :yes:


Very true Mudstar. :yes:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Mudstar said:


> You know if you start reading all the past threads on DWT now, I'd say in about a year along with hands on practice you will learn the method that works best for you.
> Everything has been covered 10 times over, something like watching a dog chase its tail in a way. :yes:


 DWT can cause one to think too much at times..:yes:


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

b said:


> cutting tapes bang on to the corners.exsperience brings perfection,and not everybody does the uprights last.rolling the tape into place is just as important as cutting the upright to the proper length.the only time i'll do the upright last is if its 10' ceilings.different strokes for different...


Works better for a 2 man crew:yes:, think about it:yes:

Man goes down the top horizontal, then goes to do the vertical, guy on the roller suddenly has to wait for man on zook who is in the way. If he circles the room first, they will not bash into each other. When man on zook gets back to starting point, all the horizontals are rolled into place. Then lets not forget high stuff like 9 or 10 high, where the guy on the roller holds the tape in place for the guy on the zook (which Moose boy was suppose to make a video of).

Plus it don't matter how accurate you are on the verticals, they can slide down on you just a bit.

Also, if you do your verticals last, it gives you 3/4's of a inch play on the horizontals if they were cut too short, the vertical tape will hide it.

Then, since the bazooka cuts the tape at a perfect 90 degree angle, I'm going to use that to my advantage. I want my horizontals rolled out first, that way, I know my vertical can PERFECTLY touch the ceiling. Which leads to easy finish 3 ways. Since it's always the same over lay of tape in the 3 way, and it will leave no bird eyes or hollows. If I see a vertical tape even 1/16 of a inch down from the ceiling, I will blow a gasket:furious:

I know it's harder to do as a lone taper, and we will break the rules in closets and garages (stuff like that). But I find it's system, system, system that makes you the money. you half to turn it into repetitive factory work,,,, become machine:thumbup:


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## Mudstar (Feb 15, 2008)

2buckcanuck said:


> Works better for a 2 man crew, think about it
> 
> Man goes down the top horizontal, then goes to do the vertical, guy on the roller suddenly has to wait for man on zook who is in the way. If he circles the room first, they will not bash into each other. When man on zook gets back to starting point, all the horizontals are rolled into place. Then lets not forget high stuff like 9 or 10 high, where the guy on the roller holds the tape in place for the guy on the zook (which Moose boy was suppose to make a video of).
> 
> ...





moore said:


> DWT can cause one to think too much at times..:yes:


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## bmitch (Dec 10, 2011)

i can understand the efficiency of your system with a two man operation 2buck,it's just not a backtrack system thats going to increase productivty for myself.as for having tapes tight in the three ways,i pride myself on that,probably why i've worked so many yrs. by myself.


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

So does the vertical tape need to be "perfect" like you stated or can it " slide down a bit" ?? like you stated?:blink::jester:. I will wait until all angle tapes are done in a room before I will even start to roll them. That way the taper guy and wiper guy arent bumpin. It doesnt take but a couple minutes to get buried in tape so the taper guy will fall back and pick corners if wiper falls behind. We keep a room apart:thumbsup:


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

chris said:


> So does the vertical tape need to be "perfect" like you stated or can it " slide down a bit" ?? like you stated?:blink::jester:. I will wait until all angle tapes are done in a room before I will even start to roll them. That way the taper guy and wiper guy arent bumpin. It doesnt take but a couple minutes to get buried in tape so the taper guy will fall back and pick corners if wiper falls behind. We keep a room apart:thumbsup:


Maybe I should switch to your system, then I will be no where near 2bjr:whistling2:

With the zook, you have a good 10 to 15 minutes to push the vertical tape up by hand (depends on the weather). Or you start three quarters of the way up the tape with the roller, and push up wards first. Moves easily, since the zook leaves the perfect amount of mud behind:yes:


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## whos ya mudder (Mar 2, 2013)

well thanks to all you guys who are posting, i'm learning stuff already :thumbup:.
i shall be working on my own to start with, so its helpful to read what eveyone is saying about drying times etc for picking. maybe one day i will earn enough to employ a team mate :yes:.
the tip about setting the blade on the boxes was great. many thanks DN Interiors.
please keep tips and suggestions coming. you guys rock.....oh and finish :thumbsup:

p.s. should be getting my set tomorrow, so ill try and post some pics later.....after i've lubricated :whistling2:


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## br549 (Jun 2, 2012)

whos ya mudder said:


> well thanks to all you guys who are posting, i'm learning stuff already :thumbup:.
> i shall be working on my own to start with, so its helpful to read what eveyone is saying about drying times etc for picking. maybe one day i will earn enough to employ a team mate :yes:.
> the tip about setting the blade on the boxes was great. many thanks DN Interiors.
> please keep tips and suggestions coming. you guys rock.....oh and finish :thumbsup:
> ...


Congrats on your set, betcha can't wait! Columbia ships their tools lubed with Fluid Film, I use it too the stuff is great. It doesn't have any solvents in it so it won't eat away at your rubber gaskets. I get mine from Amazon. 

They'll be ready to rock right out of the box :thumbsup:


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