# Bang for your buck, speed, and quality tooling



## justanotherdiy (Feb 6, 2019)

Hey guys, I remodel homes and while I end up doing a decent job on my finishing it takes me an EXTREMELY LONG time to get it right as I'm a perfectionist and will mud and sand and mud and sand until I'm satisfied. I used your standard drywall knives and trowels but I want to compensate some of my speed and failure with semi auto or auto tools. I love awsome gadgets so I don't mind spending a little more money on tools that I may not use everyday but I don't want to brake the bank and spend thousands on a full auto set up. That being said I'm not disregarding full auto tools in my question. In your opinion what tools are must haves and should I get to greatly reduce my effort and speed while increasing quality.


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## Phillytaper1955 (Aug 31, 2018)

I not sure where you are located but if you have an Ames dealer close you can always rent a set of tools. Have you ever tried running machines?


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## gopherstateguy (Apr 8, 2012)

If you don't use stilts get some. Get a banjo, super taper or tube and applicators to string your tape. Flat box set would be the next step. You can get a solid brand box set for under a grand if you watch for sales. Angle tools would be the next step. Get a good roller for taping and either an angle box and heads or tube and flushers for coating. Some guys get angle tools before boxes, it depends on what you feel is taking you the most time. Just keep in mind, there is a learning curve with auto tools. Don't expect to save any time until you get them figured out. Your best bet would be to find someone willing to train you on them. If all my jobs were under 100 sheets I wouldn't invest the time or money on a bazooka. If you do volume zooks are a money maker though.


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## Phillytaper1955 (Aug 31, 2018)

Gopher is spot on couldn’t have said it any better


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## justanotherdiy (Feb 6, 2019)

Any particular brands to invest in and or stay away from?


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

Banjo homax, compound tube with applicator heads. Corner roller, Flushers and a pole. Tapepro, Must haves best bang for your buck. Tape faster and finish corners faster. Then move onto boxes. If you cant get tapepro then other brands like columbia and cam an. Bte.

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## endo_alley_revisited (Aug 9, 2016)

How much square footage are you talking about? You probably need to be consistently finishing , say 80 sheets or more. Maybe much more, before automatic taping tools should be necessary. I have worked with many hand tapers and hand finishers who were very fast. And who's work is very clean and good. If possible, you might be best off finding a finisher with these kinds of skills, and work with them to learn the trade a little better. Sanding is a necessary part of doing a smooth finish. But if you are doing too much sanding, it probably means you are playing with the mud and leaving too many blemishes in your mud work. I am not pointing a finger. It is very easy to do this. But honing your skills will improve the finish, speed things up a lot, and minimize some of the sanding.


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