# Mini Taper



## ColumbiaTechSupport (Aug 13, 2010)

I've been noticing some interest in the mini taper. What size would be the best?


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

I think the 1st question should be the price, make it half the size of the four foot one, for half the price:yes::whistling2:


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## Goodmanatee (Sep 24, 2010)

Trouble is, it's going to be an expensive bit of kit that you don't use very often.


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## sdrdrywall (Sep 4, 2010)

I was thinking in the 36" range short enough to really get in closets yet can still hold enough mud to get something done.


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## JustMe (Apr 17, 2009)

I haven't done and don't do enough of the kind of work that would need a mini-taper, so I can't really help you out there, Aaron. When I have done things like the odd small closet or 3, a banjo has served for the amount I had to do. But if I was running into some volume, I could see myself considering stepping up to something more.


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## Cratter (Sep 6, 2010)

sdrdrywall said:


> I was thinking in the 36" range short enough to really get in closets yet can still hold enough mud to get something done.


I was thinking about two to three feet. 

I always use a banjo, but everyone says bazookas are superior. 

I think a mini 'zooka would be a perfect stepping stone (not to mention dropping over a $1,000 vs $100 on something someone might not like or use much in a Bazooka).

Columbia/TT/Drywall Master etc could sell twice as many products: the mini, and the full blown once they out grow the mini. 

Something lighter than a normal one yet holds 2-3 times the amount of mud than that of a normal banjo would. 

How much more mud does a bazooka hold vs a banjo?


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## msd (Apr 10, 2011)

been running the gun for along time and there is not to much i cant run with it but 10ft ceilings really give me a workout from the floor running flats. would be nice to have a gun a little longer.


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## JustMe (Apr 17, 2009)

msd said:


> been running the gun for along time and there is not to much i cant run with it but 10ft ceilings really give me a workout from the floor running flats. would be nice to have a gun a little longer.


A 2buck solution: http://www.drywalltalk.com/f9/home-made-bazooka-extension-1421/

Columbia makes a 6' bazooka as well. Or they did say so on their Facebook page, this time last year.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

JustMe said:


> A 2buck solution: http://www.drywalltalk.com/f9/home-made-bazooka-extension-1421/
> 
> Columbia makes a 6' bazooka as well. Or they did say so on their Facebook page, this time last year.


Yes good point, I think most of the tapers I bump into are 5"-4" tall, I think a mini bazooka extension would sell better. Something where they don't rape you on the price. Don't know who made the one I saw (guessing DM b/c it was black) they wanted over $300 bucks for a 2 foot extension. Make cheap/affordable extensions in 6", 8",10" sizes etc. Some guys just need that few extra inches. Even for me, I'm 6 foot tall, but a extra 6" on 9 foot high walls, would make all the difference in the world.

You can steal my design Columbia :thumbsup:


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

telescopic tube, eh like the twisty sanpole (banjo guys 2 cents)


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## JustMe (Apr 17, 2009)

2buckcanuck said:


> Yes good point, I think most of the tapers I bump into are 5"-4" tall, I think a mini bazooka extension would sell better. Something where they don't rape you on the price.


I haven't been jammed into a whole lot of closets, but in the ones I have taped (with my banjo), I've wondered about a mini taper that would collapse down enough so you could pretty much start off like you might a regular bazooka in an open area and then as you went up a wall, the mini would extend so that you could hit the tops of your verticals from the floor, and hit the closet's upper ceiling tapes from the floor. A telescoping taper/tube like chris said, but one which telescopes on its own, while at the same time you have control over its extending. Or telescoping which one could easily enough control while doing it manually.

For getting more taping distance from a mini, I'd maybe also consider having one that would feed out less mud. Maybe enough that a 2" flusher or angle head could handle well enough the mud on the tape, but not much more. We are talking closets and the like here, not large open areas where corner tapes are more visible.

I don't think a couple feet of tubing would lower the manufacturing cost of a mini too much, so one might feel a little raped by the price, unless the value of the mini was increased for the buyer/user. One possible might be that with the mini's extension ability, along with maybe less weight (less mud) and less mud flow, it could be used to tape ceilings - at least butts and flats - and maybe other harder to reach areas. I for one don't need the amount of mud my bazooka puts out when it comes to ceilings, except for the corners. I could very probably do with less for my walls as well. It's the angles where the mud amount comes in handy for me - which again puts us back to having 'tortoise' mud flow and 'rabbit' mud flow.
Getting a Mudrunner and adding mud while taping corners, like cazna says he does, could be one option for corners. Or flushing corners twice after tapes are on. Or ........ 

Some thoughts that maybe someone could improve on.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

JustMe said:


> I haven't been jammed into a whole lot of closets, but in the ones I have taped (with my banjo), I've wondered about a mini taper that would collapse down enough so you could pretty much start off like you might a regular bazooka in an open area and then as you went up a wall, the mini would extend so that you could hit the tops of your verticals from the floor, and hit the closet's upper ceiling tapes from the floor. A telescoping taper/tube like chris said, but one which telescopes on its own, while at the same time you have control over its extending. Or telescoping which one could easily enough control while doing it manually.
> 
> For getting more taping distance from a mini, I'd maybe also consider having one that would feed out less mud. Maybe enough that a 2" flusher or angle head could handle well enough the mud on the tape, but not much more. We are talking closets and the like here, not large open areas where corner tapes are more visible.
> 
> ...


To me, the only place a mini bazooka could be useful is off a scissors lift, other than that, it would just be a novelty item. Just like the mini CP tube. As with the mini cp tube, I seen guys buy them (my step father being one) and after a while, they collected dust in storage. You learn how to get things done in closets with the longer Cp tube, and you do the same with the 4' long bazooka. To me closets are easy money, (all angles) and we half to light check our closets too,,,,,,so.....

A adjustment of mud flow (as the captain says) would be great!! I would be more pron to cut back the flow of mud on the flat tapes, not the angles. Cutting back the mud flow on angles would defeat some of the principles of the angle roller.

To me the secret to running the bazooka is the mud mix. If your one coffee cup too much in water, your cleaning too many blobs off the wall and stuff. One coffee cup of water too short, and your tapes drag too much, and things don't roll or flush out right.

The Goldie locks theory kicks in big time with the bazooka mud mixes so.... get that down, closets are not a big deal


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## JustMe (Apr 17, 2009)

2buckcanuck said:


> To me, the only place a mini bazooka could be useful is off a scissors lift, other than that, it would just be a novelty item.


I'm wondering if for at least some, that usefulness could be expanded to include other things. Example: In our work, we run across things like a lot of fire taping. Some of it gets pretty difficult to get at, and having something that could reach up into some spaces might be a benefit.
And then there's the longer runs of things like fire tapes and higher finish tapes, that a lot of the guys just pan and knife off a baker or scaffold. They might be willing to use a mini on such as those (some of them can be pretty stubborn about 'stepping back' to such as a banjo or super taper).

The girl they have working with me could be another possible candidate for a (reduced or variable flow) mini. I can't really see her being able to handle a 4' too well, or too well for overly long. Yet to get her to be a more rounded production taper with us, she'll maybe have to be able to run a bazooka. I'm thinking that at the very least, I'm going to have to show her how to use a banjo and maybe Super Taper, then let her choose between what she thinks makes sense for her and a given situation.
At least she's already familiar with stilts. But our sites are often not all that safe for them. So taping 8' high flats and higher bulkhead corner tapes could cause her problems - unless maybe the mini was designed in a way that would allow her to hit such as those flats from the ground.




2buckcanuck said:


> You learn how to get things done in closets with the longer Cp tube, and you do the same with the 4' long bazooka. To me closets are easy money, (all angles) and we half to light check our closets too,,,,,,so.....
> 
> A adjustment of mud flow (as the captain says) would be great!! I would be more pron to cut back the flow of mud on the flat tapes, not the angles. Cutting back the mud flow on angles would defeat some of the principles of the angle roller.


Not sure what you're meaning by "principles of the angle roller".

My banjo, which I usually use for most if not all of a small closet's tapes, at times gets enough hardened mud behind the mud flow adjustment plate that it might not put out even enough mud for a 2 1/2" flusher to be necessary to use (until I take the plate off and clean behind it, which I don't like to stop and do while taping). I often still put those tapes on and roll and flush them, then cp tube and flush them later with a 3", and they turn out fine - I light check them as well. At least no complaints from whoever I've done them like that. But maybe in your area, and the quality of homes you have to do, that wouldn't be good enough.

I'm wondering if BTE's 2 and 3" flusher combo gets used a lot in, say, lower end housing, with guys who can control mud flow, like banjos and Super Tapers. I'm going to see how well my new 2" BTE and banjo get along in some places, like small closets.




2buckcanuck said:


> To me the secret to running the bazooka is the mud mix.


The secret might also be the mud. Yesterday the girl and I started a new job, where ProRoc taping and AP were supplied, rather than the usual Synko. The ProRoc seemed nicer to work with, more 'velvety', both for taping and for skimming and coating. The Synko seems to have gotten more gummy the last while. Maybe it's the increased vinyl they're supposed to throw in, in the summer, to keep the mud from drying so fast.


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## Captain Drywall (Aug 15, 2011)

you can balance a normal length bazoka. a short one has place to use, but if feels akward, and it takes more muscle to hold it up.


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## JustMe (Apr 17, 2009)

Captain Drywall said:


> you can balance a normal length bazoka. a short one has place to use, but if feels akward, and it takes more muscle to hold it up.


Never held one, but my imagining tells me you're maybe right. But I'm not sure about the more muscle needed to hold it up. And maybe it feels awkward to someone so used to a 4'.

As much as I'm trying to see if there could be value designed into a mini before throwing the whole idea out, I'm not really seeing it. Instead, it's taking me back to my thoughts of the bazooka design being problematic, and always will be, whether that's a 4' or a mini.


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## sdrdrywall (Sep 4, 2010)

After a lot of discussion (this means begging) Columbia sent me a mini I've had a week of taping with it and this taper is awesome stairwells closets highrooms with lots of scaffold all perfect choice I ran it on 8' ceilings 9' foot was a little tough I would use it anytime the ing downfall is you don't get as much footage per fill but the lighter weight makes up for it just a all around awesome tool Columbia tools can't say enough good ..:thumbup:.


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

I currently own a TT mini taper. There are good and bad points about it. Obviously it holds less mud but, it is lighter. I can get into closets easy. 9' cielings are possible from the floor but, I prefer to do them from stilts. Even on an 8' ceiling, the horizontal angel puts one hell of a strain on my shoulders by the end of the day. Ceiling tapes on an 8'er don't bother me at all. Hallways and stairwells are a breeze. The next major purchase that I make will be a full sized taper.


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