# My Trowel came in: videos inside



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

My $9.37 Marshalltown trowel came in today and I decided to test it out right away . Here are my videos of my first time ever using a trowel. These are my first two passes using a trowel. Just a reminder, you have to click on the pictures to take you to my photobucket so you can view the videos.


----------



## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Your a trip finisher...:thumbsup:


----------



## gam026 (Aug 14, 2011)

thefinisher said:


> My $9.37 Marshalltown trowel came in today and I decided to test it out right away . Here are my videos of my first time ever using a trowel. These are my first two passes using a trowel.
> http://s615.photobucket.com/albums/tt236/slow94/?action=view&current=trowel1.mp4
> 
> http://s615.photobucket.com/albums/tt236/slow94/?action=view&current=trowel2.mp4
> ...


Video????


----------



## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

gam026 said:


> Video????


 click the pic man....


----------



## Square Foot (Jul 1, 2012)

Clicking pics but no video???


----------



## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

It's working for me guys!! :blink:


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

Yeah guys just click on them...... If they don't work for you then I'm not sure what to do.


----------



## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

thefinisher said:


> Yeah guys just click on them...... If they don't work for you then I'm not sure what to do.


 must be a southern thing!:whistling2:


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

moore said:


> must be a southern thing!:whistling2:


lol indeed.... Guess I could create a youtube account and put it on there but photobucket has been working thus far. Either way its is just a video of some jackleg using a trowel for the first time . Probably painful for some to watch.


----------



## Square Foot (Jul 1, 2012)

For some reason? it won't work on iPad, I had to use my Mac.

Ever since I moved to auto tools, I hardly ever use trowels anymore. These conversations/ threads are making me feel like i need to get back to using them.


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

Square Foot said:


> For some reason? it won't work on iPad, I had to use my Mac.
> 
> Ever since I moved to auto tools, I hardly ever use trowels anymore. These conversations/ threads are making me feel like i need to get back to using them.


Nothing really beats hand finishing something and it coming out perfect. I know machines are awesome and are super productive, but I love finishing by hand and watching it come out like glass. For all the trowel finishers, it is definitely a different feel thats for sure. I did like using it and it felt good. I still like my knives better of course but I can see why some of you guys like the trowel :thumbsup:


----------



## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Square Foot said:


> For some reason? it won't work on iPad, I had to use my Mac.
> 
> Ever since I moved to auto tools, I hardly ever use trowels anymore. These conversations/ threads are making me feel like i need to get back to using them.


 Don't get out of touch with how you got there!

Hand finishers are like the pencils when the printer shuts down.


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

moore said:


> Don't get out of touch with how you got there!
> 
> Hand finishers are like the pencils when the printer shuts down.


True statement. As for my trowel. I think perhaps I should have got a curved trowel as I feel it would be much easier to use, but I wanted the trowel to be on an even playing field with my knives.


----------



## Square Foot (Jul 1, 2012)

Really no such thing as perfect....only "perfect" within the limitations of the products used.

Are you absolutely sure that hand finishing is better than tools?..


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

Square Foot said:


> Really no such thing as perfect....only "perfect" within the limitations of the products used.
> 
> Are you absolutely sure that hand finishing is better than tools?..


Didn't say hand finishing was better than tools.... I just said nothing beats hand finishing something that comes out "perfect" unlike when you use tools the tools did the work and not you. I'm all for tools, but doing it by hand connects you to the work more I feel.


----------



## Square Foot (Jul 1, 2012)

No worries finisher....and no hostility in my post. Sometimes hard to tell in type.

Working sevens again and tired, I'm surprised that my comments even make any sense.


----------



## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

thefinisher said:


> Didn't say hand finishing was better than tools.... I just said nothing beats hand finishing something that comes out "perfect" unlike when you use tools the tools did the work and not you. I'm all for tools, but doing it by hand connects you to the work more I feel.


I know what your saying TF, brings you back to your roots, makes you feel like you accomplished something more. It's like the tools sometimes are like fast food, well by hand is like good ole home cooking.

Sometimes I will go "what to hell, lets coat this job out by hand" then half way through, I will go"why didn't I break out the tools":blink::jester:


----------



## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

I just watched your vids TF:yes:

What do you mean you MIGHT !!! start running the trowel You show the most potential at running one so far, you didn't hold it up side down:thumbup:

And as I have said before, The curve trowel does work good on the flats, it ALMOST duplicates the boxes, Thats why I call it the poor mans box,,,,,, if your looking to invest in another one:thumbsup:


----------



## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

the one thing i'm seeing guys doing that is odd to me is the feathering with the short side of the blade. that is not typicaly what i have seen or do myself. watch 2bucks instructional videos to see the typical way to feather with a trowel. i have never gotten a feel for curved trowels. i find there use very limiting. my jobs are all small chopped up heavy loaded reno's. you cannot load a 4' x 4' patch with anything but a flat blade and the majority of my joints are all connected somehow to big nasty butts in existing wall tie-ins. for me to use a specific tool for coating only beads or flats would be unproductive. also i find it ridiculously easy to leave enough mud on a flat to account for shrinkage without needing a curve in my trowel.


----------



## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

carpentaper said:


> the one thing i'm seeing guys doing that is odd to me is the feathering with the short side of the blade. that is not typicaly what i have seen or do myself. watch 2bucks instructional videos to see the typical way to feather with a trowel. i have never gotten a feel for curved trowels. i find there use very limiting. my jobs are all small chopped up heavy loaded reno's. you cannot load a 4' x 4' patch with anything but a flat blade and the majority of my joints are all connected somehow to big nasty butts in existing wall tie-ins. for me to use a specific tool for coating only beads or flats would be unproductive. also i find it ridiculously easy to leave enough mud on a flat to account for shrinkage without needing a curve in my trowel.


Well, to each their own, but as I stated, the curve trowel is the closes hand tool you can get to replicating the look of the box. If you ran one joint with a box, and another with a curve trowel, some could be hard pressed to see the difference between the two. And as most tools in taping, they can be limited in use, just like the zook only lays tape, angle heads do angles/internals , sanders do sanding and different sized knives do different task, but it don't stop us from buying them

Also, just like boxes, you can use the curve trowel on butts too:thumbsup:


----------



## Kiwiman (Jun 14, 2008)

Square Foot said:


> For some reason? it won't work on iPad, I had to use my Mac.
> 
> Ever since I moved to auto tools, I hardly ever use trowels anymore. These conversations/ threads are making me feel like i need to get back to using them.


Works on our ipad2.


----------



## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

2buck i honestly have never given curved trowels a fair shot. i learned on a flat trowel. maybe i'll do a few beads and flats today.


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

2buckcanuck said:


> I just watched your vids TF:yes:
> 
> What do you mean you MIGHT !!! start running the trowel You show the most potential at running one so far, you didn't hold it up side down:thumbup:
> 
> And as I have said before, The curve trowel does work good on the flats, it ALMOST duplicates the boxes, Thats why I call it the poor mans box,,,,,, if your looking to invest in another one:thumbsup:


The trowel felt natural to me as I felt it would. I mean the basic concepts are the same as using a knife but it is just oriented different is all. I would definitely have to get used to a hawk as well.... I have very limited use with one and it feels uncomfortable. I was more comfortable with the trowel than I was with the hawk lol. My dad tried out my trowel this morning and I was better than him . To his defense it has been decades since he has used one and he used a curved trowel when he did his first coat on the flats/butts. I do that poor mans box trick with my knives sometimes if I need to build out a joint. I will use one of my slightly bowed broad knives and run it backside to the wall while spreading my thumb and index to the outside of the blade so it will bow while I wipe. Only trick with that is you have to have big hands or it will be difficult otherwise.

The only thing that bothered me about the trowel was the fact that I can't wipe the backside of the blade off on the hawk very well like I would a knife so I don't carry dried mud into my work. Is there a way to stop this or or would I just need a lot more practice?


----------



## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

carpentaper said:


> 2buck i honestly have never given curved trowels a fair shot. i learned on a flat trowel. maybe i'll do a few beads and flats today.


Like 2buck said they are useful.:yes: But I think it's more of a beginner's tool personally. Just for the fact that they leave on quite a bit more mud because of the hump. I used one when I first started. Broke it one day and accidentally bought a flat trowel. Once i got used to it there was no looking back. I have a curved trowel that gets used rarely when I get help from another guy. But I only let him use it on butts and he gets to finish them. I don't allow him to use it on flats.

Stick with your flat trowel carpentaper ! :thumbup:


----------



## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

thefinisher said:


> The only thing that bothered me about the trowel was the fact that I can't wipe the backside of the blade off on the hawk very well like I would a knife so I don't carry dried mud into my work. Is there a way to stop this or or would I just need a lot more practice?


:lol: That just takes practice. After a while you won't need to look. The tricky part is not slicing your wrists !:yes:


----------



## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

mudslingr said:


> :lol: That just takes practice. After a while you won't need to look. The tricky part is not slicing your wrists !:yes:


I actually played around with it some more today and I feel like I could use it for a whole house if I needed to without much trouble. I just put the mud on the hawk and kept quickly loading up the trowel for forehand and backhand use. Not following the slicing your wrist part though :help:. I believe the trowel can be easily learned though if you have a lot of knife experience. I feel like it comes to me very easy.


----------



## Square Foot (Jul 1, 2012)

mudslingr said:


> Like 2buck said they are useful.:yes: But I think it's more of a beginner's tool personally. Just for the fact that they leave on quite a bit more mud because of the hump. I used one when I first started. Broke it one day and accidentally bought a flat trowel. Once i got used to it there was no looking back. I have a curved trowel that gets used rarely when I get help from another guy. But I only let him use it on butts and he gets to finish them. I don't allow him to use it on flats.
> 
> Stick with your flat trowel carpentaper ! :thumbup:


Just because it is a curved trowel doesn't mean that it will leave the mud humped. The pitch/angle of the blade by the user determines how much mud is left on the wall.


----------



## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

thefinisher said:


> Not following the slicing your wrist part though :help:.


Not trying to scare ya !:lol: When you're proficient at wiping the mud of the back of your trowel with the hawk, after time you start to do it quickly without even thinking about it. Sometimes when not paying attention you can accidentally jab the trowel into your wrist or slice some flesh. It happens !:yes:


----------



## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

Square Foot said:


> Just because it is a curved trowel doesn't mean that it will leave the mud humped. The pitch/angle of the blade by the user determines how much mud is left on the wall.


Ya, I know. I'm not referring to myself. I had both trowels and knives mastered a long time ago. That's why I don't like using them. Especially if working with temp help. If they don't lay it on like I do i get pissed. 

You are absolutely right though !:thumbsup:


----------

