Marshalltown trowel problem

[tireetim]

I just bought a new Marshalltown trowel but when it arrived I was suprised that the blade was silver, not gold. It is sold as a 12" x 5" Permashape Golden SS finishing trowel - Durasoft, PB7GSDh, 11562. I rang the dealer who said that is right and they are now this colour but all the pictures I can see on the internet are for a very gold looking trowel. I am wondering if I have been ripped off, been sent a fake or if this is now how they look. Can anybody help? I've put some pictures of mine up :

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• tireetim
• 16 Nov 2013
• 1

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• tireetim
• 16 Nov 2013
• 1

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• tireetim
• 16 Nov 2013
• 1

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• tireetim
• 16 Nov 2013
• 1

 

[Alastairreid]

Is there a price difference between the two?

They are all stainless steel blades regardless the colour are they not? never seen a gold blade myself.

 

[tireetim]

I doubt it will make any difference to my plastering but I think the non gold SS one is about £10 cheaper. Just want to make sure I got what I paid for. I remember seeing gold ones in a builders merchants and thought mine would be like that but it isn't. I'm sure it will be fine but if the ebay seller has pulled a fast one it's going back !

 

[NickB_99]

I've got two marshaltowns, one gold, the other normal.

The 'gold' one has a bit of gold on the back of the handle (like yours). The normal SS has this black.

There is a slight gold appearance on the top face, but the bottom is silver. It is now quite old and a bit mucky!

From the pics yours looks legit. Can see the pre worn grinding, marshaltown engraved on the top face etc. I'm no expert, but it seems to look ok.

 

[stevethespreader]

when the gold trowel first came out they had the same handle colour as the other trowels but now have the distinct gold handle but unfortunately also the ordinary permashape trowel has the gold on as well I have 4 gold permashape and 1 silver permashape and one stainless steel, if i remember right the gold permashape has supposed to have gone through an extra process so it retains its flexabillity throughout its working life, " just permashape " means that it retains its shape throughout its life "if I remember right". so you have gold permashape and permashape and then you have ordinary ss
the pic of your trowel shows you have a permashape not a gold permashape which is dearer than the ordinary permashape
just a note after a while the gold colour wears off so it looks just like the silver

 

[stevethespreader]

ok i have looked into this further the number on the sticker on your trowel box says pb7gsdh which is the same number on your trowel now I have gone into my shed to have a look at 2 unused trowels with stickers still on them my gold 12in reads pb7gsdh the same as yours, now on my permashape 13in silver one it reads pb113ssdh now im assuming the gs in the gold number stands for gold stainless and the ss in the permashape stands for stainless steel, the number on your trowel is the same as on your box but its not gold im not sure whats going on here to achieve the gold colour it has an extra treatment so if your trowel is silver this could not have happened here is a pic of the 2 trowels you can see the difference for yourself View media item 69124

 

[tireetim]

Thanks Steve, that is really interesting. I'm beginning to think the ebay seller changed the stickers or something as mine is definitely the silver colour. I sent the pics to Marshalltown in the US to see what they say. I know it seems like a lot of fuss over not a lot but I hate being ripped off.
Will let you know what they say. Thanks again - I appreciate you taking the time to have a look for me.
Tim.

 

[stevethespreader]

. I'm beginning to think the ebay seller changed the stickers or something as mine is definitely the silver colour.

I thought about that and tried to peel one of the stickers off it was quite hard and started to tare yes let us know what mt say,
just a note I bought a pair of stilts off e bay with 1 Marshalltown sticker on one stilt but they were made by company called sur and not Marshalltown at all the seller said he dident know about it and I made a complaint to paypal and got a £50 refund off the seller, so your not on your own and it will be interesting to see what happens in your case

 

[roughcaster]

Yep,, good of Steve to do that. I couldn't help at all. I've never owned a Marshalltown trowel. I've always used a Tyzack from day one,, i've also got a Ragni Stainless too.

 

[Reeves2k2]

Right I have just been to the van to have a look as I have 2 marshalltown stainless trowels (pics to follow to highlight something)

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• Reeves2k2
• 17 Nov 2013
• 1

Both these trowels were bought as ordinary stainless dura soft handled trowels and not gold trowels
My 14" is a permashape and 11" not

Just ignore the phat build up on the 14" it's needs a good scrub

The older 14" trowel has the gold bits (permashape) on and the new 11" trowel just has black bits as Steve says that used to be the difference between permashape and ordinary stainless which I think still stands

Something is amiss as your trowel does not have the gold coating on it

As gold trowels are more expensive I would definitely be inclined to ring marshalltown direct and ask them and giving the part numbers

Maybe they can shed some light on it

So it does look like you have the wrong trowel

 

[tireetim]

Thanks Reeves2k2.

Yesterday I went to the builders merchants and had a look. It seems that their gold trowels are also not very gold but compared with the SS ones next to them you could see the colour was much darker (but not very gold looking). I'm pretty sure mine is actually a gold but Marshalltown are now producing them in a less gold colour then they used to be (and nothing like the pictures on the internet of gold trowels).
This morning I got a response from Marshalltown who looked into in and got their uk importer to ring me up. They said it is the correct trowel and the degree of colour varies depending on the process they use to cool the metal. They said that the colour doesn't affect the quality or performance so all is correct.
At least they got back to me. Not really sure I would bother spending the extra on the Gold version in the future as I can't see it performing or lasting any longer then a standard one.
Anyway - better go and skim some walls and try it out after all that !
Tim.

 

[joe-90]

When you've worn it out come back and tell us.

 

[Skimmers]

ok i have looked into this further the number on the sticker on your trowel box says pb7gsdh which is the same number on your trowel now I have gone into my shed to have a look at 2 unused trowels with stickers still on them my gold 12in reads pb7gsdh the same as yours, now on my permashape 13in silver one it reads pb113ssdh now im assuming the gs in the gold number stands for gold stainless and the ss in the permashape stands for stainless steel, the number on your trowel is the same as on your box but its not gold im not sure whats going on here to achieve the gold colour it has an extra treatment so if your trowel is silver this could not have happened here is a pic of the 2 trowels you can see the difference for yourself View media item 69124

I thought you didnt have any spear trowels