# Slotted drywall knife



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Never seen one---Many tapers will bend the blade just a bit --that lays the mud a little thicker in the center--and tapered to nothing at the edge.


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## coupe (Nov 25, 2011)

deleted for wrong font usage


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## DannyT (Mar 23, 2011)

to the original poster: I have never seen a drywall knife like you suggest but with a grinder and a file I am sure you could make your own.


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## papageek (Mar 26, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback. It was what I expected. Since they don't make one, I'll do what Danny said and make my own.


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

papageek - There is a knife just like that called the "Perfect Pass" that is sold at Menards. (Maybe other places too...) I am no drywalling pro, actually, I pretty much suck at it.. but I bought the perfect pass for doing my basement's butt joints, and it has worked wonders for me. Doesn't work like it says on the package (Get it done in two passes with no sanding!!) but it does help out a lot.

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-h...erfect-pass-drywall-tool/p-1676876-c-8951.htm


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## papageek (Mar 26, 2010)

Thanks casper, that is exactly the tool I was looking for. I just finished this job the hard way, but will order one for the next time I tackle a drywall project


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

That looks interesting. You could make that pretty easily I would imagine. Wonder if it's worth it since the first coat is the easiest.


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## papageek (Mar 26, 2010)

First coat is indeed easiest, but getting that coating to be the same thickness from top to bottom is not! And you don't want the seam to be wavey. I'm going to buy one on-line because they don't sell them yet in the Maryland area.


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

The more I think about it, I'd like to give that a shot on my basement. Anyone know where to order one? A quick internet search came up with nothing but a youtube video.


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

papageek said:


> First coat is indeed easiest, but getting that coating to be the same thickness from top to bottom is not! And you don't want the seam to be wavey. I'm going to buy one on-line because they don't sell them yet in the Maryland area.


Let me know what you find. I just emailed epiphany. I'll post up if they respond.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

You guys are wasting your time and money on that tool. It isn't going to be the magic wand you imagine it is going to be. Using that tool will create more problems you wouldn't otherwise have to deal with. Just fill and feather the same way it has been done for the last seventy years.


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## papageek (Mar 26, 2010)

Mike,
I just finished my basement. Here are a couple things I did as a non-pro.

I installed the drywall horizontal, not vertical. Only two walls needed butt to butt seams and I staggered them.

I used green board for the bottom row just in case of any water issues.

A trick my daddy taught me, another non-pro, is to make the butt joins between studs. I install the first piece of drywall, and then cut a strip of ½ inch PT plywood about 52 inches by 4 inches. I use adhesive to place it halfway behind the first sheet. This gives me two full inches in which to place the screws, not ¾ of an inch at the very edge if my stud is perfectly straight, less is some places if it is not! I use the extra 4 inches of the 52 length to place a screw or two in the adjoining piece of drywall and use adhesive again to install the second sheet that is butting up to it. This makes a nice butt joint because you don’t crack the ends by screwing in too close to the edge. Then comes the vertical butt joint that we are all talking about on this thread.

I’m sure the pro’s who have done this for years will say this is overkill, but for me this works perfect every time.


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

Bud Cline - Maybe for someone that has been doing it for years this tool would seem like a waste of time.. but for a DIY'er that doesn't do it for a living, this tool is perfect. It cut my butt jointing time almost in half compared to the two joints that I did without the tool. Some of you 'pros' need to have an open mind once in a while, and realize that there are going to be tools invented that are going to make things easier for the every day person. It's called change, and just like at my job, you have to live with it, weather you agree with it or not.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Bud Cline - Maybe for someone that has been doing it for years this tool would seem like a waste of time.. but for a DIY'er that doesn't do it for a living, this tool is perfect. It cut my butt jointing time almost in half compared to the two joints that I did without the tool. Some of you 'pros' need to have an open mind once in a while, and realize that there are going to be tools invented that are going to make things easier for the every day person. It's called change, and just like at my job, you have to live with it, weather you agree with it or not.


Thank you I didn't know that! Your information is very helpful to me. I appreciate your being here on a regular basis and being willing to offer your advice free of charge whether you really know anything or not. Your opinion is most welcome.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

Some guys throw a shim on the studs to the left and right of the butt joint stud so that they create a low spot at the seam. Then a wide joint flattens the wall without any special knives/trowels.


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## coupe (Nov 25, 2011)

You guys are wasting your time and money on that tool. It isn't going to be the magic wand you imagine it is going to be. Using that tool will create more problems you wouldn't otherwise have to deal with. Just fill and feather the same way it has been done for the last seventy years.

I must agree with Bud on this one. the tool itself may have potential? but I don't think it can be made in your garage with a grinder and file?

I think it would have to be formed and stamped. the edges where more mud would be applied would have to be papered, gradually from the thicker portion to absolute zero. to get a good clean finish at edges. mud simply can't be put on that thick without cracking as it dries? keeping the tool clean as you use it is a must! leaving drag marks results from caked on drying mud.

maybe, you got results you're happy with? simply because you don't know the right way to start with!
I've always found the third coat to be easiest. it's just a learning experience in how to keep joints from being wavy. you learn when to flatten the tool and raise the tool to keep an even coating.

I see problems with sanding also, sanding those two ridges, 1 of 2 things are likely to happen, either you scuff the paper on drywall or you sand through to the tape? either require an additional coating. maybe two? scuff marks are door to cover.

let me explain the correct way to do it.

1st- tape all but joints in entire house/room from ceiling to horizontal sheets, run tape 1" past joint or so. on first taping coat.

2nd.- after all butt joints are done, go back to room where started, and run your vertical corners, do all of them in entire house/room using a 4" knife on corners, 6" on butt joints and horizontal joints. by the time you've done these the butt joints done first will be dry enough you can run your ceiling corners and not mess up the butt joints at top. when these are done your vertical corners are dry enough to run your horizontal tapered joints without messing up your corners with lapping.

3rd.- coat your butt joints throughout house/room, with a 16" hawk and trowel, with enough mud on trowel to run entire 4' butt i one pass, so no overlapping is done, start at top in ceiling corners, learn when and how much to flatten your trowel to leave a nice smooth cover, stay back far enough to see how its going? at horizontal joints begin to straighten trowel so it leaves no mud past horizontal tapered joints.

when all these are done, run your inside corners again using a brush to apply mud and a 4" knife, or 4" corner too if you prefer? after corners are done, go and run all your horizontal joints, starting inside corners of walls, enough mud on trowel to get out at least a few feet from corner, then work back from dry drywall into wet mud. again, learning when and how much to level out trowel and straighten trowel to leave me clean edges. makes for much less sanding!

4Th.- repeat step 3 for finish coat. step 1 and 2 use mud freshly mixed out of bucket adding no water, mix thoroughly, trying to get as much air out as possible. air causes bubbles in finish.

steps 3&4 I like to mix in about a quart of water into full buckets of mud, mix thoroughly running mixer up and down until constantly mixed ( keep mixer away from plastic bucket. pieces of bucket cause streaks!)

after third coat is dry, sand and paint. any imperfections? use 6" knife over divots, over ridges, 6"knife over both sides featuring out into nothing. when painting, it's normal to see Spackle until paint dries. if necessary? two coats of paint. will cover it all nicely. it'll take a trained eye to find joints. which is almost impossible to get so nobody ever will be able to spot them? find one, you almost know where the next one is!

I'm glad this tool worked for you? glad I'm not the one who had to sand it

good luck


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

Bud Cline said:


> Thank you I didn't know that! Your information is very helpful to me. I appreciate your being here on a regular basis and being willing to offer your advice free of charge whether you really know anything or not. Your opinion is most welcome.


Yup, because that explains it all. Ignorance is bliss..

And Coupe - It's just like any other tool, once you learn to use it correctly, it works well. Just because something has been done "this way for 70 years" doesn't make it the right way / best way / only way. The work in my basement with that tool would rival that of any professional (that was finishing a wall for texture) Yes, it took me longer than any professional would have taken, but it turned out excellent. It only leaves about... 1/16" of mud possibly, and I had no problems with cracking..


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Yup, because that explains it all. Ignorance is bliss..


AMEN !!!:yes:


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## papageek (Mar 26, 2010)

It all comes down to the fact that a lot of us are rank amateurs and we can use all the help we can get. My current project is finished and I wish I had known about that knife before I started. I WILL buy one before my next project. They only seem to be available in the Midwest. Does anyone know of somewhere I can buy one on line with reasonable shipping charges?


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Menards won't ship you one? (still a much better idea the guys had to just make your own)
The plastic one I made with the wooden handle would be perfect for this, I'd just sit and sand the middle part down while watching TV.

DM


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## Wiscbldr (Nov 1, 2010)

I found that simply bending the taping knife to create a curve will take care of the problem you mention. When using a curved blade coming across, it will leave more in the middle, and less along the sides, giving you a better starting point. Then apply your addtl coats as needed. As you get used to the curved blade, it makes it easier for using along the corners as well as you can hold down one side and it will leave more in the corners as needed. The problem with straight blades if that when you drag it across, you pull off more then you want, especially in the middle. Thats the benefit of the curved blade...

But hey, if you can invent something better, and it works, by all means, good luck.. !!


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

I wasn't saying this is a miracle tool that is going to fix all.. It's just that extra helping hand that the amateurs could use when only doing a small area.


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## jawadesign (Dec 13, 2011)

thanks for the tip on the mud slinger for amateurs 

what i find funny as a product designer is peoples willingness to stick their head in the sand, lol!


just think, when someone invented the blade 70yrs ago, or whenever it came out, those at that time said ba-hum-bug, that will not work!! i'll keep using my homemade cornhusk spreader... you know, the one they've been using since medieval times :thumbup:


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

As I see it, there are a few different kinds of people here.

1. The guy who learned his trade from a master and was taught to properly use the corn husk spreader and has become very adept at it and won't give it up. It's tried and true. He is accused of being stubborn. Many seek his advice, but many do not follow it.

2. The more progressive guy who learned his trade the same way and is very good with the corn husk spreader but is willing to try something new. He has a box full of newfangled blades that really didn't do a better job than the corn husk and often did worse or took longer. His advise is often for grasshoppers not to waste their time on gimmicks because he has already tried them. His advice is often scorned. He will become the master.

3. The DIY guy who never studied under the master, but is looking for any advantage he can get. He will use the new blade and swear by it because he knows no other method. Perhaps if he'd learned to use the corn husk, he would think differently. He seeks advice, but often shuns that which he does not wish to hear.

My personal choice for flat joints is a Marshalltown curved blade drywall trowel.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...7&ei=u0ryTt_BJYWpmwfy8oDWAQ&ved=0CGEQ8wIwBg#p


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## coupe (Nov 25, 2011)

I prefer the 16" trowel myself- depper curve-more feathering

http://www.toolup.com/marshalltown_12css_15315-16-x-4-12-ss-drywall-trowel.aspx


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

I used the same trowel that Maintenance 6 posted up, after using and sanding the slotted drywall knife. My basement walls look better than my walls upstairs that were done by contractors.... (Upstairs I can see almost every butt joint, the ceiling joints are cracking (non-butt joints) and around every 5 feet or so it looks like they turned the crown of the stud the opposite way just for fun.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

coupe said:


> I prefer the 16" trowel myself- depper curve-more feathering
> 
> http://www.toolup.com/marshalltown_12css_15315-16-x-4-12-ss-drywall-trowel.aspx


I would like to get a 16", but I just HATE breaking in a new trowel. :no:


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

casper129 said:


> I used the same trowel that Maintenance 6 posted up, after using and sanding the slotted drywall knife. My basement walls look better than my walls upstairs that were done by contractors.... (Upstairs I can see almost every butt joint, the ceiling joints are cracking (non-butt joints) and around every 5 feet or so it looks like they turned the crown of the stud the opposite way just for fun.


Getting paid to do a job has nothing to do with being a proffessional.


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## casper129 (Mar 14, 2011)

Maintenance 6 said:


> Getting paid to do a job has nothing to do with being a proffessional.


Yup.. except the house was built by one of the "best" contractors in the area.. I think our entire state is just filled with ****ty builders that just slap something up quickly to get paid and move on to the next... Best workers I've found since moving in the house have been found on craigslist..


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Maintenance 6 said:


> Getting paid to do a job has nothing to do with being a professional.


But.... by definition..... "A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialized set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. "

....but I DO get what you're saying M6. :laughing:

DM


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

I have one on the way. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I had to speak with the owner himself since they don't sell these online. If enough people wanted them I could probably get a bunch and ship them out. Doesn't sound like people on here are too interested. I'm good at making an invisible seam, but it takes me too long. I'd like to see if this helps cut down on time. In theory it sounds like it should work great, but we'll see.


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