i've just purchased my first set of boxes (tapeTech easyClean 10" & 12") and have no experience using them (or boxes).
i've used them for a week now, fresh out of the box, but am having trouble getting consistent results. The fist day, i 2nd coated with the 10" without adjusting the factory setting of the blade, and to get full cover had to run over the recessed joints more than once, and it left hard edges that i had to go over with a paddle.
an experienced box user told me that i had to adjust the blade against a flat wall to get it "flat", but was rather vague about which setting to do this at (1-5 crown settings).
on day 3 i final coated with the 12" which i had adjusted the blade to be flat on setting 2, and i got better, albeit mixed results depending on the walls in question. I still had to alternate settings between walls to get an even cover, and feather my edges by hand.
can anyone point me to some instructional material that might help (me set up my boxes properly & use them - with attention given to what to look for when application is being done properly) , or summarize what i need to do....as i have scoured the internet and youTube for instruction and have not come up with anything other than stuff on bazooka's, tapeboxes, and mudrunners.
You don't want to set your blade flat you want to have an arc in it so that your mud tapers off on its edges.
What you need to do is place the box "blade down as if you were running it" and "0 setting on the dial" onto a table or flat plate and check to see what it looks like it should have and even arc from one end of the blade to the other. If there isn't you need to put an arc into it, you can do this by putting your thumbs on the lip of the rollface "where the door stops are" and pulling down on the blade bar with your fingers to put an arc into it. You can also take the box and run the blade on setting 0 up and down length wise on a piece of wood to put the arc into it.
The problem you are having is probably because both edges of the blade aren't touching the wall when you're running it, this should solve that. If there is an even arc in the blade already the blade bar could be "loose in the shoes" causing the blade to float on the wall. Check to see if you can move the Blade bar on each end that it is held by the shoes, if there is movement you need to tighten your shoes up so that there is no movement. Using a set of pliers pull the upper and lower shoes together to close them onto the blade bar, don't close them too hard though because you don't want to bend the lip of the upper shoe upwards.
You don't want to set your blade flat you want to have an arc in it so that your mud tapers off on its edges.
What you need to do is place the box "blade down as if you were running it" and "0 setting on the dial" onto a table or flat plate and check to see what it looks like it should have and even arc from one end of the blade to the other. If there isn't you need to put an arc into it, you can do this by putting your thumbs on the lip of the rollface "where the door stops are" and pulling down on the blade bar with your fingers to put an arc into it. You can also take the box and run the blade on setting 0 up and down length wise on a piece of wood to put the arc into it.
The problem you are having is probably because both edges of the blade aren't touching the wall when you're running it, this should solve that. If there is an even arc in the blade already the blade bar could be "loose in the shoes" causing the blade to float on the wall. Check to see if you can move the Blade bar on each end that it is held by the shoes, if there is movement you need to tighten your shoes up so that there is no movement. Using a set of pliers pull the upper and lower shoes together to close them onto the blade bar, don't close them too hard though because you don't want to bend the lip of the upper shoe upwards.
You guys are way too far ahead of us to make much sense sometimes,,,,LOL
Here's the deal,, the "brass" part of the box (that holds the blade) needs to be "arc'd". To do this, take your thumb and "bend" it upwards. PUSH on it.
If your leaveing a hard "edge" your blade is TOO high above your shoe, it should be just abit (finger-nail) higher.
The "settings" on the box don't mean nothing till you get those two things in line.
I believe that is what the COL guys were trying to say, just didn't know how.
Most boxes are the same, for your 10" coat use a 2-3 setting, for you 12" use a 4-5 setting. The dial setting is for the amount of mud that you want released not how the mud goes on the wall.
so Aaron why did you fellas switch from the blade holder before to brass
I remember the days of the old blade holder slide a penny through the middle and you had a nice controllable curve or arc as you say, so why brass?:blink:
While coating by hand, you tend to put more mud on. One part of using boxes is realizing that they run tighter than a hand trowel so u have to work your system accordingly.They look like their not putting enough mud on but they are.So as columbia says,try running your 10" at #3(middle ground#)then your 12" at # 4,you half to get use to idea less mud gets used. boxes run true with no waves or ripples.
bottom line 10" loads,12" skims (tight)
Hello Anton, There is not much to add to the very professional help you have already recieved from the other 2 guys. The arc in the center of the blade, dial in numbers as already stated and keeping your joint compound at the right thickness and not to thin.
if your blade is straight across, the mud will be pushed out the sides of the box instead of filling under it, which the arc allows. I personally also use my 10" box on butt joints with the setting at zero to allow maximum coverage.
Until you get used to it,keep your hawk and trowel[or knife] close by and wipe it down or clean it and start again,it isnt rocket science,but until you get the learning curve down there is a lot of swearing going on!!!
This was EXACTLY me when I tried mine a few weeks ago.:blink: By the end of the job I did much better. The biggest thing is getting used to the mud going on as said earlier, and learning to use the brake.
Hey go to the post called columbia facebook page on here and look at page 4 and 5. This was a topic on the blade i asked this week to. Theres a lot of good info there and it explains it all about the blade:thumbup:
What might be happening is your not leaning on the box enough and simply running the box over the wall will leave a hard edge because you probably are slightly riding on the excess mud beneath the box making the box float just a bit, not really knowing that you are not pushing the mud onto the wall hard enough but not to hard.
I suggest to lean more into it next time and like 2buck says the box will leave less but will be flatter then the hand application method.
What I found invaluable was someone else looking over your box's to make sure they are set up right and offering hands on tips and techniques, it saves a huge amount of trial and error, we are lucky here that most of the local competition will help each other out, we send our excess work to each other and help with tool and product problems, if I hadn't been shown a few pointers at the beginning I probably wouldn't be running box's today...Just don't expect every join to be perfect and keep the hawk and knife handy to fix things up.
I know this thread is old, but since Moore brought it up again, I have a question about box setup.
I used to run a set of Tapetech boxes (bought used) that ran like a dream right away, very small learning curve. After they were stolen I got a good deal on a brand new set of Northstar (8-10) and a used 12".
The new ones seem very hard to run and put out way to much mud, even when set at a low number. Did anyone every do a box setup video?
I hardly use them now, but would be nice to figure it out so they are ready to go.
PT you have so much video to do , you should start a filming crew !!! I think that a video on setting the boxes woukd be welcome for a lot of drywaller here with the quality of your video !!
Hahaha! I do have a sh!t load of videos to do!
Just finished the Delko Internal Applicator video. I'll upload that for you guys soon. oh! And I am my film crew! Director/Producer/Actor/Editor. I have one camera man! :yes:
Okay! Box video it is!
What would you guys like to see in a box video!? Break it down for me!
Get right into details. What does everyone want to see?
Tell me and i'll make it.
What!?!? That's in style... Should reach the east coast and Canada in about a year....
By then us in Cali will have moved onto something else
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