# Slight curve in Knifes or flat



## Sweendog87 (Apr 5, 2015)

Hey fella's just wondering what is best for u to have a slightly curves knife or very flat like a flat box as iv notice when applying my mud with a 12" broadknife my edges won't apply it's like only 8 to 10" that sticks to the board and makes it very hard to get a nice straight line and I have to go over my edges with my 6" to get my lines nice and straight witch just makes things a little slower I still end up with a nice and straight looking joint and I use my 6" to take the edge off anyways but would like to eliminate a few passes as I'm pretty quick with most Knifes except my larger broad Knifes and I will be getting a 14" 16" & 18" soon so want to be able to handle them better also 


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## Sweendog87 (Apr 5, 2015)

Hello anyone seen this yet


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

Sweendog87 said:


> Hey fella's just wondering what is best for u to have a slightly curves knife or very flat like a flat box as iv notice when applying my mud with a 12" broadknife my edges won't apply it's like only 8 to 10" that sticks to the board and makes it very hard to get a nice straight line and I have to go over my edges with my 6" to get my lines nice and straight witch just makes things a little slower I still end up with a nice and straight looking joint and I use my 6" to take the edge off anyways but would like to eliminate a few passes as I'm pretty quick with most Knifes except my larger broad Knifes and I will be getting a 14" 16" & 18" soon so want to be able to handle them better also
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I hate big knifes!
I'm a trowel man and I have a couple marshaltown curved trowels which do a good job of feathering edges!:thumbsup:


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## embella plaster (Sep 21, 2013)

I use all flat i have known of people using curved but a flat comes up way better i dont believe a flat second coat is good i think second coat having a 1mm hollow is perfect as top coat gives the rest when u have a flat second coat your adding more and more


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## Nick Harmon (Feb 16, 2013)

Slight curve.


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## aaron (Jun 19, 2013)

I love my curved Marshalltown 11" and 14", once you learn then you can do just about anything with then, will feather out perfect


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## P.E.I.Taper (May 4, 2015)

get a 10" 12" and 14" flat trowel. maybe a 10 or a 12 curve for emergencies. lol.
knives are for reaching higher or just need a place to set the mud. using both cant hurt anyone!


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

aaron said:


> I love my curved Marshalltown 11" and 14", once you learn then you can do just about anything with then, will feather out perfect


I have the 12 & 14!
Good for filling beads first coat as the pressure u put on it makes it flat which gives u a good first fill!:thumbsup:


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## Sweendog87 (Apr 5, 2015)

I only use knifes not a Trowel man never been taught and feel a lot more comfortable with Knifes my largest is 12 and I just put a 12 either side of butts to make them about 20" to 24" but I still feel some bad ones could be wider so want to get a few bigger ones but still not sure why my edge isn't applying straight may need to push harder cause I fill my knee right to the edge but never seems to hit the board in a straight line 


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## embella plaster (Sep 21, 2013)

Practice makes perfect mate and whats this bad ones need more my butt joins are dead flat after 12 inch gota hollow them out mate


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## Sweendog87 (Apr 5, 2015)

When we are on a commercial site that Is pinned by ****e sheeters and only make enough to make a wage boss said to just make them wider otherwise we v them on our own jobs nil pay squabbles so we gotta be quick and he says that takes more time 


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## Aussiecontractor (Oct 6, 2014)

Try holding your knife on different angles and flex it up a bit as your applying mud I think of it as spreading butter 


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## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

Shouldn't need a knife larger than a 12 to make things flat. Butts can be a pain though. Usually my first coat I will split the tape leaving just enough mud when I feather the edges to cover the tape. Then I will go 3 12's wide when I skim.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Try throwing away the broad knives when they're spunt! That helps.

As often as you change the blades on a flat box Is about as often as you should throw a broad knife away. After finishing out 10.000 sqft of board what's $30 for a new 10'' and $12'' ???


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

thefinisher said:


> Shouldn't need a knife larger than a 12 to make things flat. Butts can be a pain though. Usually my first coat I will split the tape leaving just enough mud when I feather the edges to cover the tape. Then I will go 3 12's wide when I skim.


So your a two coater?


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## BarupTaper0422 (Mar 30, 2015)

On butts I use my 16" curry, it has a hell of a curve to it and does well. Then I skim it with a 14". Flats I use my 12" Kraft curves trowel then skim with my 14" Kraft as well. So to answer the question I use both. 


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## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

moore said:


> So your a two coater?


Yep, only need 2 coats after the tape coat if your good . Like I said though I split the tape but will feather my edges right on the tape so it essentially gets a very tight coat. When I skim I will put one straight down the center and one on each side. So butt joint will be 36" wide. If we just used butt boards more we wouldn't have this issue lol. But to the OP, a knife with a slight curve most times wont hurt as long as you can make things flat. I keep a bowed knife around most times and will use it like curved trowel on beads and bad butts. But 90% just get a new knife as they are cheap enough.


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

moore said:


> Try throwing away the broad knives when they're spunt! That helps.
> 
> As often as you change the blades on a flat box Is about as often as you should throw a broad knife away. After finishing out 10.000 sqft of board what's $30 for a new 10'' and $12'' ???


Moore, Have u got ur hands on the offset knives yet?
I got hold of an 8 advance and its nice!
Nothing like a normal knife.:thumbsup:
Prefer if it was steel tho but beggar's can't b choosers I suppose!


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## Sweendog87 (Apr 5, 2015)

Yeah brought a new 6" & 8" the other day so gonna get a new 10&12 asap love my new ones got the hyde pro stainless 6 and it's but stiffer than my old hyde carbon I really like it and heaps easy to clean and got a Marshalltown 8 blue steel love the blue steel broadknives so gonna got all Marshalltown broadies and stick with hyde for joint knives they have always been a good knife for me


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