# Finishing angles by hand



## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

I don't have an angle box, so I have been finishing angles by hand when I can't borrow an angle box. I am doing one side at a time. This is very slow and can produce less than perfect results. I bought one of those inside corner trowels. I can't get the darn thing to work very good.

Can anyone give me a few tips on how to get my inside corners to look good when finishing them by hand?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
M T Buckets Painting


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

I Did one side then the other with a 4inch knife for 10 years and always produced perfect sharp corners, It is a good way to do it but yes its slow, Are you making sure that the other side is fully dry before coating them again?? Dont really see why your having trouble, This method works great, prob even better corner than machine tools, Couldnt get the corner trowel to work to good, If you got a compound tube with a white plastic corner mud head and some flushers with a handle these can produce a fairly good corner with out the angle box and angle head expense.


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## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

I must admit that sometimes the angles aren't all the way dry(even though they appear to be at first). I get alot of "dingleberries" in the angles of exterior walls where the mud doesn't dry as quickly.

My buddy is getting tired of loaning his glazer and angle box to me for the small jobs that I have been doing lately. He tells me to run everything by hand.

I don't have a tube either, I still use my banjo. I am honestly quite fast with the banjo. After the banjo, I run a road plow through the angles and wipe the excess slop, then pick the corners.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

You can get a corner trowel to work "okay", but I've never been too happy with the results. I too was once looking for a way to speed up the process for all the small hand-tape jobs I do. Now I just hot mud one side, and I can coat both sides in the same day, although I occasionally still get some dragging in the angle. The corner trowel needs to be held at an angle to do its job properly, but it also needs to be pulled pretty darn tight. I found the results to be not good enough for smooth wall, I spent way too much time touching the angles up, although it's fine for moderate textures.


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I must admit that sometimes the angles aren't all the way dry(even though they appear to be at first). I get alot of "dingleberries" in the angles of exterior walls where the mud doesn't dry as quickly.
> 
> My buddy is getting tired of loaning his glazer and angle box to me for the small jobs that I have been doing lately. He tells me to run everything by hand.
> 
> I don't have a tube either, I still use my banjo. I am honestly quite fast with the banjo. After the banjo, I run a road plow through the angles and wipe the excess slop, then pick the corners.


 
I ment once you have banjoed your corners for first coat, then take a compound tube, fill it with finishing mud, apply to corners with a mud head, then use a 3.5 flusher to glaze off, saves you having to coat one side then the other, I did this for a few houses and it works well, But then i discovered the mudrunner and angle heads :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

You could buy an anglehead and a anglehead pole. Then after the tape coat is dry, run mud in the corner with a corner roller (like some guys use to tape). Then run your anglehead on the pole. Your looking at around 350.00 ? to get started with an anglehead. I still do it this way for like a bathroom addition. Not worth getting the pump and mudrunner dirty for a few corners.


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I don't have an angle box, so I have been finishing angles by hand when I can't borrow an angle box. I am doing one side at a time. This is very slow and can produce less than perfect results. I bought one of those inside corner trowels. I can't get the darn thing to work very good.
> 
> Can anyone give me a few tips on how to get my inside corners to look good when finishing them by hand?
> 
> ...


 Heres a trick to try , Lets say your are gonna run the left side first. First run the right side, then wipe it all back off (in other words, back-skim it). Then run the left side,, don't use too much mud. The next day, reverse it, skim the left side, wipe it back off and then run the right side, again using thinner mud. 

I am assuming that you are doing smaller jobs and don't have the time to let your corners dry for a cpl days. What this method does, is allows you to get the tape covered without haveing to build it out, making it take too long to dry between coats.

Its a good method, but you will probbly say it takes too long to do this. If you feel that way, see my previous post.


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## big george (Feb 7, 2009)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I don't have an angle box, so I have been finishing angles by hand when I can't borrow an angle box. I am doing one side at a time. This is very slow and can produce less than perfect results. I bought one of those inside corner trowels. I can't get the darn thing to work very good.
> 
> Can anyone give me a few tips on how to get my inside corners to look good when finishing them by hand?
> 
> ...


 We use all the tools, but there's nothing as neat as a three way done by hand.A four inch is easier to run than a angle box.It's easier to coat angles by hand if the tape has been rolled and flushed.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

after you have applied the tape in the corners,just give the edge of the tape a quick coat like your spotting screws,on both sides at once,don't get your knife right into the angle,just coat the edge of the tape.
the next day give them a very lite rough sand,then skim coat both sides at once very tight with a 4 or 5 inch knife,you still don't half to get your knife right into the point of the angle if you want,just keep it a 1/4 away or so.after you finish sand them (when dry) use a sponge sander to bring to a point ,(if you skimmed them right to the angle)
in a nut shell,you just half to hide the edge of the angle tape,just keep a nice point when applying the angle tapes with the banjo.
I'm assuming your painting these small jobs too ,use a rough paint brush to cut in with:yes::jester:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

when i finish angles by hand i get a tighter crisper angle but not as straight as when i use tools. i wipe the tapes tighter into the corner by hand and use less mud to coat it but the flushers are more forgiving to irregularities in the angle. for anything bigger than one room i hate finishing corners by hand. by hand i find i leave the mud at slightly different thicknesses along the angle which is why it is not always as straight.


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## suncoast drywaller (Sep 4, 2009)

The way I do it is like this for small jobs . First fold and crease tape .Next mix up some setting compound , resonably runny , now run two beads of mud down each side a bit wider than the paper tape , next put tape over mud and bed it in with four inch knife and apply a skim coat . Now when it has dried run a coat of finish coat or all purpose each side with a four inch knife . Now get the corner finisher and hold it with your middle finger to the inside corner thumb to one side and small finger on other side . Now run it up the angle then down from the top . I know this is hard to explain but hopefully you will get the hang of it , its not that hard . Another tip is to keep your corner tool in a small bucket of water , as it runs smoother .


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## joepro0000 (Jun 14, 2008)

I don't know what people finish 1 sides only. You need to buy a new knife. You only need to apply tape, skim coat both sides like Capt. kinda said, then let them dry. After use a 5 or 4" knife, but make sure your corners of your knife are sharp AND NOT ROUNDED. File them out or buy a new knife. Skim coat both sides again, and your done. Its pointless to be applying thick coats in the inside corners. I apply 1 skim coat, and them one light coat and there done. When we paint they look great. This is if we don't use the mud runner and pump. I too like to use the Bazooka, roller, and glaze it for the 1st coat.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

joepro0000 said:


> I don't know what people finish 1 sides only. You need to buy a new knife. You only need to apply tape, skim coat both sides like Capt. kinda said, then let them dry. After use a 5 or 4" knife, but make sure your corners of your knife are sharp AND NOT ROUNDED. File them out or buy a new knife. Skim coat both sides again, and your done. Its pointless to be applying thick coats in the inside corners. I apply 1 skim coat, and them one light coat and there done. When we paint they look great. This is if we don't use the mud runner and pump. I too like to use the Bazooka, roller, and glaze it for the 1st coat.


You must be an amazing finisher then, to not leave a little edge in the very corner if you're skimming both sides at once. My hat is off to you.:thumbup:


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## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

Thanks to all of you for your input. Believe it or not, I have tried just about all of the above mentioned methods. Sometimes I get good results, sometimes I don't. Mostly because I don't have time for the mud to dry for more than one day. I hate using quickset on anything besides a last minute touch up or for pre-filling gaps. 

I think that after reading all replies to this thread, I will try to incorporate all techniques into one and see if I can get superb results. (After all, I am really a painter who knows just enough about finishing to be dangerous.)


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## eazyrizla (Jul 29, 2010)

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## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

I did some searching and found the best way to do angles by hand. lmfao

I was waiting for this guy to lay the mud off with a spatula.


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## silverstilts (Oct 15, 2008)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I did some searching and found the best way to do angles by hand. lmfao
> 
> I was waiting for this guy to lay the mud off with a spatula.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAd2Wcp1f_8


 I just can not believe the stupidity of people, what the hell 2 min. what was that per inch? No tape? Must have been using some of Rebels new mud eh? I need a guy like that working for me then i could make some real good money from all that great speed...What a Retarded moron...


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I did some searching and found the best way to do angles by hand. lmfao
> 
> I was waiting for this guy to lay the mud off with a spatula.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAd2Wcp1f_8


Oh man...I had to stop watching....that was PAINFUL.


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## ns005 (Dec 23, 2010)

Were the angles mesh taped or just not taped at all? Either way it's bad. A ****ing spoon? Really? Yes no good finisher ever leaves home without his trusty drywall spoon. What a tard. Maybe some dip**** would buy it, but no one that atleast has half a clue on finishing.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

ns005 said:


> Yes no good finisher ever leaves home without his trusty drywall spoon.


:lol::laughing::lol::laughing::lol:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

i buy a new 5'' i cut it down 1/8 top and both sides. hyde knives . still flexible but stiffer , stiffer is always better! :whistling2: great for taping angles , less wrinkles, straighter lines. but just remember guy's I'M a hand finisher.


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## joepro0000 (Jun 14, 2008)

SlimPickins said:


> You must be an amazing finisher then, to not leave a little edge in the very corner if you're skimming both sides at once. My hat is off to you.:thumbup:


It your mud is really slick, you shouldn't have no problem. If you do get a small edge, it sands out after.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

joepro0000 said:


> It your mud is really slick, you shouldn't have no problem. If you do get a small edge, it sands out after.


I've done it, but that was back before they had the angled sanding sponges (last time was....1997?) I'll have to try it again tomorrow, just to see if these new-fangled angled sponges can take care of business.


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## Drywall_King (Dec 18, 2010)

M T Buckets Painting said:


> I did some searching and found the best way to do angles by hand. lmfao
> 
> I was waiting for this guy to lay the mud off with a spatula.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAd2Wcp1f_8


 
wtf i think that guy got his tool from his mothers garden


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

Drywall_King said:


> wtf i think that guy got his tool from his mothers garden


Damn--dont you just want to punch this guy in the face--WTF


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

double angles behind cabinets /washer dryer rest stagger ,one side at a time. old way works, but it is SLOWWWWWWW. I HATE F/N ANGLES.


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## Ozzie (Jan 20, 2011)

I don't have a prob with topping internals by hand (not so with the machine...DUH)

Here is the method I have taught my apprentices for over 35 years and they have all got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Tape your corner as normal.... No need to skim... Just let dry fully.

Skim mud down both sides of angle and do a quick feather of edges.

Run your angle tool quickly down the angle (not worrying about edges or overlaps just to get the set to the shape of the angle tool) 

Feather edges a little more carefully..... and run the angle tool again.

Perfect angle guaranteed every time.....* I know it sounds a bit time consuming.... but it's easy to get quite quick because it is almost impossible to stuff up.....* 1 setter will top coat over 30 angles an hour and they will require very little sanding (except overlap of course)

Another "Cheaters" method is to skim topping down both sides of angle.....feather... and repeat on several angles.
Dunk your angle tool in your water bucket and then return to your first angle and run it down with a little more pressure than normal.... repeat on the other angles you topped (dunking your angle tool after every 3 angles)
Almost impossible to stuff up because your angle's edges are partially dry and you are just wetting down the centre and rounding with your angle tool.

My probs lie with flushing internals by machine..... But I won't go there tonight....GRRRRRR

Anyway...Hope this helps mate... Take care

Oz


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## cdwoodcox (Jan 3, 2011)

I couldn't even watch all that video. If anyone brought that to a job site they would be fired immediately. It isn't even close to being efficient. All the mud over top his tape it would crack for sure But I guess the painters could caulk it.


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## betterdrywall (May 4, 2010)

Dayum,, Here I have a perfectly good ready to use angle box,, Take about 10 15 minutes to fix a handle to it,, plus I have a 3inch angle head I could throw in too boot,,, and guess what??? No one is even willing too offer me two cents for the whole shabang!. Keep up the hand work..


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## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

betterdrywall said:


> Dayum,, Here I have a perfectly good ready to use angle box,, Take about 10 15 minutes to fix a handle to it,, plus I have a 3inch angle head I could throw in too boot,,, and guess what??? No one is even willing too offer me two cents for the whole shabang!. Keep up the hand work..


How much do you really want for the tools??? I will be glad to give you more than 2 cents.


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