Tools that I don't know much about...

OraarO

Looking to buy more equipment, which would you recommend?

Brockster

I voted for hand job.

OraarO

nice

That's all I have ever done.
Any experience with the others?

Drywall1

Hand job for me too please!

__________________
Rockin the Midwest from the time I could walk.

1wallboardsman

I sincerely hope to not offend any hand finishers... but, anyone who would choose to hand finish in this day and age either needs 20,000 volts a day for a couple of weeks.... or, has been getting 20,000 volts a day for a couple of weeks.

I realize that the hand finisher believes that he has tremendous skill in his hands, but just as much tremendous skill can be developed with a set of tools in those hands.

Think about it, is a carpenter with a hand saw, more skilled then a carpenter with a power saw? Or, just slower?

When will drywall come into the 20th century? John Henry beat the steam drill, but then he dropped dead.

jdl

OraarO

Thanks wallboardsman - Great post.

Brockster

Naw, I'm too shy.

brdn_drywall

orarro it depends on what your doin, do you have employees or helpers if your doin volume or production work and have staff aplatech-graco systems can't be beat.but don't invest in there taper just yet they still have to work the bugs out, not as user friendly as a conventional taper. Also they have there simple version af a box witch is crude and a waste of time buy their box handle and drill a hole through your conventional boxes, nothings quicker for coating on the market right now, i'm sure theres a few old dogs that won't learn new tricks that will try to argue this. they maybe right under there circumstances it is very costly and is not practical unless you have staff, and alot of contracts to put it to good use.

1wallboardsman

And some "old dogs" just learned new tricks before you were born, and still haven't seen "the lost generation" come up with anything better then the old tricks while they've been busy inventing pay me triple so that I can make as much as my dad did with those old dog tricks.

Apla-tech is a re-tread of a system that failed to catch on in the '50's. Because the "new tricks" were better.

jdl

cooper

I hope methods like the Apla-tech don't become the standard. I will have officially lost my interest in the trade when that happens...

JCardoza

I use Alpha Tech on steroids... LOL I hook my Alpha Tech box up to my 200 Gallon AST trailer mount spray rig and go to town!ok... I don't exactly recommend this for taping... but works great for getting mud on fast for some of my trowel textures! Okay... "Great" is a relative term...It gets messy fast when you can't find the off switch... (wow I love these smilies... limit of 5??? aww!!)

rhardman

Robert and Stan Ames were working on their first taping system in 1938 and then sold the current "batch and fill" system in 1962 for $5.2 million. 2 years ago Ames was sold to an investment firm in L.A. for $300,000,000.00. Since their patents expired in the late 70's, whenever a competitor began to gain significant market share, Ames would (and still) buys them out for I believe around $5,000,000.00. Today if you look at Ames site they are migrating toward being an ALL-WALL distributor for a number of different products.

All the tool manufacturers sell the same basic tools and their main marketing strategy (through their distributors) is based on price. Then the disty's beat back on them for margin. That being the case, it's very hard for the mfrs to spend a lot on new technology...

Riddle me this Batman, what would the perfect system be like and what would it do that the current methods don't?

Rick

LSDrywall

Hard to say without knowing the amount of production you are looking to do? I am a one man show most of the time, started with hand tools and depending on the job still do some hand work. I have also gone the bazooka aka taper route corner tools boxes ect.... If I need to dig a hole for a post do I need a back hoe? sure it will get the job done but it doesn't make much sense. If you are looking to gradually progress I would strongly recomend corner tools first.

Stormy_Ny

I have worked with one tool guy you didnt have to wipe all of the run, just the starts and stops. The boxs put the mud on the wall faster ..... but 9 times out of 10 you are wiping after the box.

A good wiper has as much worth as the man running the tool. You dont make money doing touch ups !

silverstilts

I suppose we will be back on the argument of running an angle head over hand wiped tape again , but here it is again the angle head was designed to run on an angle after it has been rolled and glazed the first time USUALLY done behind a tube . Some will argue that you can roll and glaze behind a banjo , some will argue the point that you can just run the angle box over hand wiped tape .... sure you can but it sure is a lot harder to do and anyone with any experience and knowledge will tell you the same. To much drag not enough mud plain and simple ... Most that learn on a set of tools usually get stuck running the angle box first I think the reason for that is because it is demanding on the body . Of course there are other methods out there now such as the mud hog or other applicators which claim to make it much easier and I will not argue that point , I have used the aplatec system only for the angles and yes it was easy to run but sloppy no matter how you ran it , it could have been only because I was a little disappointed in the quality and put it in the shed with all the other tools designed to make taping a breeze. It is true you don't really need a complete set of tools but they sure do come in handy ....If you want to make some money you have to spend some and invest in the proper tools and use them the proper way for what they were intended. Just my 2 cents worth which ain't much these days.