# Trowel or knife??



## drywall

*It's all good*

:thumbsup: I have been doing the tapping by hand for over 15 years.I have used trowles and the six inch knife in new york, then i moved to georgia and use only knifes..they are both just as quick.(depends on the operator)never used fancy tools. I do it by hand.


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## sidejobs

*Trowel or knife*

I've been taping for 15 years, used a pan and knives for the first year then moved up to a hawk. I would never go back to a pan. I also found the commercial hawks are way too small, I made my own out of an old street sign (cut down to a 15" square) and added a wood handle. Works great and you can really load on the mud. It makes it easy when using your 8”, 10”, 12”, and even a 16” knife.


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## AtlanticWBConst

Trained with knives and Hawks in the early 80's
After many years, I don't do much taping now, but I def. can still do it...
One of those things you NEVER lose.

My thoughts:
Seen Trowels used adeptly.
Was on a job a few years back skim-coating 30" flats with a 12" knife (2 non-factory seams) - completely smooth, managed to convert some to 'the knife'.

I've always figured, it's what you were trained on. 

Tho, I am sold on knives. 

To me: Trowels are for plastering, knives are for taping...

Don't shoot me for that. I am entitled to my own humble opinion.


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## Kristina

andrewtlocke said:


> To finish:
> 
> 6" knife for finishing corners and angles.
> 
> 12" pan knife for bead
> 
> 12" flat trowel for flats and butts (my butts are 24" wide finished)












In my opinion, having watched pros and my husband (not a pro taper) I'd think that the smaller knives would be easier to control for someone who doesn't know what the hell they are doing.

My husband did some taping here and umm needless to say, the PROS are coming in today to do the job right. :whistling 

He is of the "bigger is better" mindset. Doesn't use a hawk but was using at LEAST a 14" trowel. I have plops of compound all over my floors, dressers, electronics AND it doesn't even look that good. :no: I was going to attempt a small room, with regular old tape (he got the fancy expensive stuff







) but he got the guys in here before I could do it. I was just going to use a 6" knife. More control for my little hands. 

By the end of the today it won't matter, the pros we use have the big trowels and hawks and they actually know how to use them. :clap:


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## steve-in-kville

I've been experiementing with various techniques with both knives and trowels. I've found a system that works pretty slick for me, an prolly no one else...

4" knife for embedding tape, both flats and corners/bead.

6" knife for first coat (corners, bead and tapered seams).

12" trowel thereafter... for everything (yes, it can be done!)

I've come to appreciate the trowels. I have a larger 20" masonry trowel I use to float out pillars or large seams.

steve


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## oldrivers

pan and knifes, hawks and trowels just depends on what im doing .

oh and yes the 20 inch trowel is a neccesity.


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## oldrivers

"He is of the "bigger is better" mindset. Doesn't use a hawk but was using at LEAST a 14" trowel. I have plops of compound all over my floors, dressers, electronics AND it doesn't even look that good. :no: I was going to attempt a small room, with regular old tape "

we put down rosen paper on all the floors , easy clean up.


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## oldrivers

delete.


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## steve-in-kville

I did a search on trowels vs. knives and found this thread. Only now do I realize it is almost a year old. 

The subject needed brought up again anyways.

steev


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## Mud Master

I can use both very efficiently, but knife & pan is my tool(s) of choice.

My dad however, a unbelievable finisher is very old school and still uses his hawk & trowel for all finishing. Well, he tapes with a 4" knife & pan, than blocks & skims everything else with his hawk & trowel. He taught me how to finish with a hawk & trowel when I was 12, it was not til 9 years later that I learned to use a knife & pan efficiently.

I still have my old hawk & trowel in my finishing bag..it is broken in so nice I think I would cry if something would happen to it.


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## taper71

I used a hawk and trowel for 14 years. I tried knives 2 years ago and I will never go back to trowel as my main tool. With knives i found i get a cleaner corner ( less sanding woo hoo ) better control, less hard on the wrist, and don't get the odd knuckle marks that you have to go over again. I still use my big trowel on pillars and such as I can do it in one pass. 
I still use a hawk for finishing -the pans suck- Mud dries out and you have to constantly clean them. I do use a pan for taping though - Muds alot thinner and less mess.


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## Jcllc

I started using knives almost 6 years ago for everything now after learning more and watching old timers I have come around to trowel.Never used the auto tools and don't think I ever will. I have seen them used and those using them are pretty good still have to hand turn corners etc. so why use auto tools. just my two cents:thumbsup:


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## Frankawitz

After 22 years I use them both just depends how I feel that day, Hey IHI have you tried to apply the mud to your ceilings with a textured roller and then use your 36" might be a little easier then lifting that baby with all that mud.


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## Mater

Hawk and trowel???? I'm stilll a young pup I guess. I never knew a guy/girl could finish with a trowel. I'd like to see it done sometime. Also a quick question for the "experienced gerousia" in our midst. Did any of you ever tape, bed, and skim with only a 6" knife? I'm a knife man, until I get my apla-techs:laughing: :laughing: . I don't have $10k to drop right now on them! BTW: someone had a 36" butt here???:w00t:


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## mud dog

Hawk and trowel for beads, butts and flats. knives for everything else. The only difference between a "pan and Knifer" and a "hawk and troweler" is where they ache at the end of the day.


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## BoB The Fixer

i started my taping by trowel and at the once i used the knife i never used the trowel again , because for me it was faster , easier, etc.. 

best wishes


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## A W Smith

I use 6, 8, and 12 inch knives with mud pan. I started out with knives then a builder I worked for convinced me to try and use a trowel and hawk. I did that for a few years but I damaged my trowel by dropping it and went back to knives and its been knives ever since. One guy who I finished with who was a union taper before he became the town animal control officer told me he shaped up at Quaker Bridge Mall when they were building it and they sent him, his mud pan, and knives home as it was a trowel job. Years later I visited the mall and the drywall finish work looked like s***.


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## Bummie

Taping.... pan and knife. Beads and finishing ... hawk and trowel.


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## localtradesman

*I'm in .....*

I have always used knifes......I can say that after years of using knifes I do near perfect work. Who sands???? Very, Very little, and the best tool for sanding is the RADIUS 360.......best on the planet....... I dare anyone to find a better product. Or haven't you heard of the radius 360?????? Plaster guys never use knives and drywall guys should stick to knives. Take That!!!arty:


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## kgphoto

Both! And at the Same time! I mean I use a hawk and knife or pan and knife or hawk and trowel. Trowels allow me to move more mud faster and put more mud on the wall. I get a better finish with knives.

I use a 6 inch knife and 12 inch knife, mostly. I also use, when necessary, a 1 1/2", 3 " angle, 4, 5, 8 inch knives. I use the largest one that will fit or the 4 inch to set No-Coat products.


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## asevereid

Eh, I'm the odd man out... I use a hawk and knives.
It's taken me too long to get my techniques dialed in... But I would like to try a trowel sometime. 

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


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## Snobnd

The way I was taught was trowels.


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## VinylHanger

I used towels for years. Went back to knives because they are easier on my shoulders.

That being said though, I have never used a proper drywall trowel, always used concrete finishing trowels. May try drywall trowels on the next gig.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## rblakes1

asevereid said:


> Eh, I'm the odd man out... I use a hawk and knives.
> It's taken me too long to get my techniques dialed in... But I would like to try a trowel sometime.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


I was going to offer to send you mine, but shipping to Canada would probably cost more than you just going and buying one

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## mrcat

asevereid said:


> Eh, I'm the odd man out... I use a hawk and knives.
> It's taken me too long to get my techniques dialed in... But I would like to try a trowel sometime.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


Hawk and knives was what I was taught with too.

Don't do much drywall these days, but still do it the way I learned it. 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Fouthgeneration

IMHO, Drywalling is the retarded cousin of plastering....Thus the tool is only as skilled as its user....

As an aside as an apprentice Brick Mason I bought a few dry wall butt joint trowels @ garage sales thinking they were just damaged/bowed 12-15" concrete trowels.....


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## tjbnwi

I use these, a combination of both.

https://www.all-wall.com/TapeTech-Smoothing-Blade-BX12TT.html

Tom


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## TheConstruct

I've always used a pan and knives but I did buy a hawk and trowel recently to see if it would make me a better drywaller.... I used both for 20 mins... I'll never be great at it and I don't really want to be but I'll keep using what I know works for me and maybe put the trowel in my tile kit.


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## blacktop

About once every two or three years I buy a new trowel thinking it was the last ones fault .


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## woodspike

potato - patauto
i cant use a trowel , never in miami have i seen a single guy use a trowel for drywall mudding 
i even put plaster on with knives ( i don`t do plaster much)

i just cant the feel of a trowel , and hawk.
you trowel guys probably say the same about knives


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## DaVinciRemodel

I use a ballpoint pen. Give the sub a check and be done with it.

And I honestly don’t care what tool he uses as long as he doesn’t want me to touch it.

DaVinci don’t do drywall :thumbsup:


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## DaVinciRemodel

B.Johnson said:


> After 11 years of waiting, we now have the definitive answer. :thumbsup:





blacktop said:


> About once every two or three years I buy a new trowel thinking it was the last ones fault .


These guys crack me up :laughing:

Both responses made my day :clap:


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## blacktop

DaVinciRemodel said:


> These guys crack me up :laughing:
> 
> Both responses made my day :clap:


I even have a french Canadian uncle. I figured that would be close enough . But I guess it needs to be blood related .


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## blacktop

Plasters used trowel . Then old plasters continued with the trowel when the ****rock was placed in their lap .. after that the California knives ./broad knives took hold . 


Plaster is king . Drywall is a retarded cousin.


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## asevereid

Fouthgeneration said:


> IMHO, Drywalling is the retarded cousin of plastering....Thus the tool is only as skilled as its user....
> 
> As an aside as an apprentice Brick Mason I bought a few dry wall butt joint trowels @ garage sales thinking they were just damaged/bowed 12-15" concrete trowels.....





blacktop said:


> Plasters used trowel . Then old plasters continued with the trowel when the ****rock was placed in their lap .. after that the California knives ./broad knives took hold .
> 
> 
> Plaster is king . Drywall is a retarded cousin.


Kind of begs the question.. Why spring did a level 5 finish, if plaster can achieve a better finished product?
Don't get me wrong.. I like the idea of skimming out a reno that's been all butchered up to get an even finish for paint.. But wouldn't it be great if plaster could be spec'd in new construction? 

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


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## ksc1

asevereid said:


> Kind of begs the question.. Why spring did a level 5 finish, if plaster can achieve a better finished product?
> Don't get me wrong.. I like the idea of skimming out a reno that's been all butchered up to get an even finish for paint.. But wouldn't it be great if plaster could be spec'd in new construction?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


In my area, drywall is extinct in residential construction. The only ones who use joint compound are homeowners and hack carpenters. 

Uni-kal rules


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## Golden view

I don't get it either. I'm level 5 smooth wall on 95% of projects, and I probably pay more than you East Coast guys do for plaster, yet plaster is superior.


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## Big Shoe

Plaster fizzled out here about 20 yrs ago. Sorry. 

Knives and pans here, except for the Canadians down in Hollywood. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## hangit

knives.


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## DNA WYO

Wow, this thread has been going awhile. Here is my take on drywall hand tools. 
I started out as a hand finisher with pan and knife. Had all sorts of troubles till an ancient finisher told me about having a knife properly tuned as in how much crown or curve is in the blade. I might have 4 broad knives in each size and all will be tuned for a different purpose. 
I use hawk and trowel for various hand textures and the occasional plaster job. 
I have Northstar automatic tools so a total hand finish is rare unless the job is small. Where I use the auto tools, I box out two coats and then apply the third coat with pan and knife.
Everything gets finished to level 4 regardless. Learning to finish with minimal to no sanding is were it’s at


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