It depends on how I am taping and methods will vary wildly from person to person. If it is a large job and I am using a banjo I will use an 8" knife for wiping flats/butts and a roller and 2.5" or 3" flusher for inside corners. I will then use a 3.5" flusher for finish coat. I use a hawk,trowel and 6" knife for everything else.

If it is a small job and I am taping by hand I use a 6" for everything. Hawk,trowel and 6" for all finish coats. When coating angles by hand I use a 6" but a 4" would be adequate.

The set spec is how it looks when it is painted.

 

Most of what I do, have done, is remodeling and small scale commercial. No machines/boxes. Generally push for a level 4-5 finish in three passes and minimal touch-up. So the methods have become oriented toward filling cliffs and canyons. Uneven sheets and surfaces, blending into existing ... blah blah blah and so on & so forth.

2" & 4" Knife, for those BS spots where a 6" won't fit. Rare to use on new construction.

6" for inside corners (corner knife occasionally - whole other topic LOL) and paper on butts. All inside corners are skimmed with the 6" as well as screw holes initially. Will often 2-3 coat with what ever knife is in my hands. Long pass vertical build up over all in a row and then a good wipe.

8-10" knives for filling flats (mesh) and corner bead. Few reason over a 6", they hold more mud per swipe, can get a rounded build up on the tapers (closer to flush/flat sooner), gets a longer feather going sooner, and with corners avoid the high angles back to the flat. As a finish carpenter I CURSE corner bead.

12" all skims in the field.

A bit unconventional, but for remodeling it has become the best way to conserve movement by me.

 

Sounds like you do a lot of tie in work. I do as well.

 

4" for tape coat and all nail spotting
6" for inside corners
8" for bed coat factory seams and butts (one pass on either side, about 14" wide) and 2 passes on corner bead
10" for top coat on factory seams
12" for top coat on butts (one pass on either side, about 20-22" wide)

1", 2", 3" for the occasional inside corner next to a door window jamb

No taping machines or any of that crap

 

Ask a thousand finishers this question, and you will get a thousand different answers. I learned a certain way from some great hand tool finishers, and have combined some of my own methods into my teachings.

My basic handtool finishing:

Taping inside corners: 4"
Taping flats and butts 6"
Spotting screws: 6"
Flats bed coat: 10"
Flats Skim coat: 12"
Butts bed coat: 10"
Butts Skim: 12"
Bead bed coat: 8"
Bead skim coat" 10"

I don't knock any banjo or finishing tool. I would use them for production work in a heartbeat. The problem isn't the banjo, or other tool.....it's the person using them that makes the difference.

 

Is an 8" over kill for insides? I started using it a few jobs ago and like it better because of how far out the flats and butts are from the corner. I feel like I get a better finish with less work.

 

Sounds like you don't trust the 4". Pulling angles with a 4" can be frustrating for new or ocassional finishers. Most of the time... I see new finishers trying to spread too much mud over too short a distance and then they have to keep messing with until it's uneven, huge lap marks, or have huge ridges (handles) on the outside edge of the work. They also struggle with directing finger pressure to create a feather on the outside of the knife. The purpose of mudding over the tape.....(is to hide the edge of the tape). You don't need it a 1/4" thick. When I am sanding my work, I often see exposed tape right at the crease where I folded the tape. I dont worry about it unless I see the edge of the tape with it. The foundation of any finishing job is taping. If your tape is tucked properly..... (not wavy, bulging, or sucked into holes)

Try using the 4" again with slight finger pressure on the outside of the blade. With a little pratice, you will see that the knife will direct the mud towards the corner/angle with little mud left on the outside. Try using lighter pressure overall as well.

Hope this helps.

 

Inside corners 4", 6" or corner trowel (usually 4 or corner trowel)
Butts and flats 8"
upper angles 4" or 6"

Sometimes I'll do everything with a 6", but it isn't ideal to do it this way.

 

Wider knife means better feather edge right?

 

If it takes 6" or 8" knife to kill a edge of tape that is less that 1/64 of and inch, then your technique is seriously flawed. Bedding in tape has alot more to do with killing the edges......than actually covering the tape itself.........providing that the tape was put on correctly.

 

Hi Dan
The fact of the matter is there are alot of us out here that don't tape for a living but we do it occassonaly and at those times we may do it a lot. For us we might not find the way that a guy thats does it every day works for us.
To me I will do what ever it takes to get the finish I am looking for, if it means a 12 in the corners than so be it. Like I said I don't do it every day. Don't listen to the so called pro's as they do more taping in a day than you will do in a year. Find your style and go with it

 

The original question was in regards to what knifes were used to obtain satisfactory results....... was it not?

My original follow up said that he would get a thousand different answers.

The OP came back saying that a 4" knife................was no way!

This "so called" Pro was trying to give him the most efficient answer.

That is what we are all here for............is it not?

Sanding sucks.......... you wanna sand 6" 8" and 12" inch corners?

Go for it! :clap:

 

Oh and I'll add....

I avoid using the idiot stick to compensate for poor taping skills. A quick light sanding at the end is all that should be required. Focus on a few stray snots and final feathering

(Idiot stick is sanding pole)

 

Pretty funny, and it reminds me of sanding my own work when I first worked production. When sanding day came around, nobody in the crew wanted to help sand my work. They would all laugh and pile into other rooms or areas where the experienced finishers had bedded & skimmed. It was all in fun, but it was also a incentive for me to improve.

 

6" knife for insides taping and finishing. 6" for taping flats then 12" to finish.

Anyone else when taping inside corners use the knife sideways to mud the corners?
Using a 6" knife I can spread the mud quickly 2/3 the way down this way in one pass then bottom up last 1/3.

 

There's few things I dislike more than sanding someone's work when they have no clue what they're doing. I've done that once in the past, that I can recall, to help out a friend whose brother was supposed to be building an addition for her. The coarsest I had was 80 grit, so that's what I used, and it still took me a few hours to get it ready start doing coats - every joint was humped up bad.

The worst part was, he wasn't supposed to be there, but he showed just as I was finishing sanding, grabbed a hawk and trowel, and laid it on thick right over the joints. No detailing, no feathering, just a big mess. I just kept my mouth shut and left. Stills get me POd.

 

I run into that stuff all the time. Everyone thinks that finishing is mindless/easy work until they realize they need a lot more than a few buckets of mud and a 6" plastic knife from LOWES.:no:

 

if you',re not efficient enough to run a 4" down a angle ,you're not going to do any better with a 6".

 

Words of wisdom Bernie, welcome to CT!:thumbsup:

 

.....[/QUOTEt] Sanding your own work is the best way to learn taping. We dont hand coat much but when we do we use a 10" and 12" for cornerbeads. We use an 8" to wipe tape(flats and butts) and always keep a 6" in back pocket.... 4" and 5" knives are in the tool bags but get used rarely. We will pick angles with a 6". Final coats (touch up butts) we use 12" or 14". We use Blueline boxes and tepetech angleheads

 

...

 

I've never laughed so hard in my life!!!! :laughing:

 

That's cause your a box man LOL

 

my 3 way knife is a 4.5'' and a 5.5'':thumbsup: I cut them down

 

I've been working with a 12 inch trowel and hawk lately. 6 inch stiff knife to bed tape, then the trowel for every thing else. The narrow edge works great for corners and narrow spots. I find it's easier to pull the top coat tighter as well.

I'm not a taper by trade, so my speed wouldn't win any awards, but in the end it looks good and I like the feel of the trowel over the knives, and it doesn't seem as effected by goobers on my top coat.

 

I taped for years with knifes and bread pan. On with a 6 off with an 8, on with the 8 off with a 10, on with 10 off with 12. This was the way I was taught. A couple years ago I changed to a hawk and 12" trowel. After a short time I found my sanding time was cut way down with the trowel and my joints were looking better. I now have a 12, 14, and 16" set of trowels. The only time I use a knife is a 4" on the angles and 3 ways.
To the OP if an 8" knife works for you then use it, but if you learn with a 4 or 5" i think you will find it easier and faster.