Plastering trowels

[Raybuild]

I'm about to do alot of skimming. I,ve notice my trowel is slightly bowed, Should a finishing trowel be completey straight? If it is slightely bowed is it better that it is bowed outwards (away from the handle) or inwards (towards the handle). As I see it one way would be more favourable if you are making a 'passing stroke and the other if you are making a 'dragging' stroke - this is when you are avoiding lines. Also why are they somtimes called 'Plastering Trowels' and by others 'Finishing Trowels'. Surely they are the same if you are applying a finishing skim? Lastely - what is an ideal trowel lenght if applying a finishing skim? Do I have to take out a second motguage to by a decent trowel?. I notise Jewsons' are selling a 13 inch 'Ragni' for £16- seems OK?

 

[brist]

14" Marshalltown about £30 they are preworn.

 

[Richard C]

Most trowels are completely straight & flat when you buy them. You can buy pre-worn trowels & these will have a rounded rather than the sharp edge of a stamped out piece of sheet steel but they are still basically flat; for an experienced plasterer, this is probably better than breaking in a brand new trowel & some will use a trowel on cement rendering to break them in before using them on plaster.

The trowel edge shouldn’t bow away from the handle or the corners will dig in & a decent trowel will be one that’s worn in to your particular style. I’ve had mine for over 2 years now & it was a cheap 15 quid B&Q offering, I didn’t now any different at the time but, to be honest, you probably wont notice the difference if your inexperienced. It’s now perfectly worn to my style of use & I never get any trowel marks; in addition to well rounded edges, it now has a very slight curve side to side & end to end & I would be lost without it.

The size of the trowel you can use is directly proportional to how big your muscles are & how much stamina you have; serious pros on price work will use very large trowels to lay up & finish as much as they can. Personally, I use an 11” finishing trowel & find this more than enough for my stamina over the course of a day’s work but I am a bit of a wimp! I certainly wouldn’t advise starting off with anything too large as it can be more of a hindrance if you’re inexperienced & I would spend the extra & buy stainless with hindsight.

 

[joe-90]

Trowel length isn't to do with stamina but the flatter surface you'll get with a longer trowel. Generally. I use a 14 inch for the first two coats and an 11 inch for the polish.

Ragni are very good.

Sometimes I use an 18 inch or even a darby.

 

[Richard C]

Trowel length isn't to do with stamina but the flatter surface you'll get with a longer trowel. Generally. I use a 14 inch for the first two coats and an 11 inch for the polish. Sometimes I use an 18 inch or even a darby.

I entirely agree that a longer trowel you can use the flatter the surface is likely to be but you can’t deny a larger trowel is harder to work & will, for some, be more difficult & tiring to use, especially a beginner; as I said, I'm a bit of a wimp but if you can use an 18 incher, perhaps your built like Arnold Schwarzenegger!

 

[FredFlintstone]

I have two for finishing, both Marshalltown, both were pre-worn but are now nicely worn in through use. One is just the normal marshalltown durasoft 14" and the other is the permashape.

I use the permashape when I need to use the trowel end on to get into tighter spaces. It hasn't bowed at all since I got it. The other trowel is nicely bowed through use and it's this I use for general skimming but I can't use it end on because of the shape.

Whichever you go for though make sure it's stainless steel.

Regards

Fred

 

[joe-90]

It doesn't have to be stainless steel - spring steel is what it MUST be.

 

[makitaman]

Mines this long.......................

 

[sanj.varah]

i'd second the marshalltown, i've got a finishing trowel thats stainless steel and preworn.

I find it difficult to skim unless the trowel is bowed a bit as it tends to drag.

 

[noseall]

Whichever you go for though make sure it's stainless steel.

Regards

Fred

good advice fred.

if you intend using your trowel for gypsum based products, which are intrinsically acidic then stainless is a MUST. otherwise, you will end up with a piece of old ship iron come monday morning.

i was always rubbing one of my old trowels on some wet sand to get the finish back.

 

[joe-90]

It DOESN'T need to be stainless - just spring steel. Clean it, dry it and store it.

 

[Nige F]

Blimey, Joe, you`re Old School.......cleaning tools.......you`ll be saying you only have one bucket and clean that out too

 

[Lee dorey]

No mate your applying a finish coat but in stages! A finishing trowel is for the finishing and a worn in or perma shape for laying on! I’m a plasterer so after a while you can lay on and finish with a finishing trowel but depends how much you’ve done as when learning you may find it hard laying on and very flat without lines and if left you won’t trowel the lines completely out! After a while and if you apply a lot of pressure on hard trowels a finishing trowel becomes broken in but usually we just use new trowels on cement to break in or use a concrete step to help break in