Unpopular opinion: the taping knife I swore by for 3 years was actually making my life harder

I was at a job site in Omaha last month and an old timer pointed out my mud was full of air bubbles - turns out my stiff 8 inch knife was trapping air because I wasn't flexing it enough. Has anyone else switched to a thinner blade and seen cleaner corners right away?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_murray81d ago

You ever feel like you been doin' something the hard way for years and then someone just casually shows you the easy way and you wanna punch yourself in the face? That was me with my old 8 inch stiff blade. I swear I thought stiffer meant better control but nah, it just meant I was fightin' the mud the whole time. Once I switched to a thinner flex knife my corners got cleaner in like one day. Feels dumb but man, sometimes it takes an old timer pointin' out the obvious to make you realize you been makin' extra work for yourself. Glad I'm not the only one who had that wake up call.

gavin_knight391d ago

My 6 inch flex knife changed everything for me after I finally listened to a drywaller buddy in Denver. A stiffer blade forces you to push harder which just traps air and creates those tiny craters you have to sand down later. Thinner steel lets the mud lay down flat with less pressure and your corners will clean up in half the passes.