Chat with a 30 year veteran made me rethink my taping knife setup

I was on a job last Tuesday over on Elm Street and an older guy named Mike walked through to quote a bathroom. He saw me using a 10 inch knife for everything and just said "you're fighting the tool, not the mud." He showed me his setup with a 6, 8, and 12 and it suddenly clicked why my corners always looked rough. Has anyone else had a random conversation like that totally change how you work?

3 comments

3 Comments

williamb291d ago

Old Mike sounds like he knew his stuff. That three knife setup makes a world of difference on corner work. I had a similar moment with a painter who told me to stop using cheap rollers, changed my whole finish game. Sometimes that one bit of advice from a veteran is worth more than a whole YouTube playlist.

lucasjackson1d ago

Started using cheap rollers once to save 10 bucks. Spent the next hour picking lint out of the paint. Learned my lesson real quick, felt like a total clown.

the_emery7h ago

So did Mike actually show you the right technique for each knife size or just tell you to buy them and figure it out yourself? Lot of these old timers forget they've been doing it so long it's second nature to them.