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Question about using a 4-inch knife for taping instead of a 6-inch
I used to only use a 6-inch knife for my taping coats for years, but after a job in Denver last month where the mud kept dragging, I switched to a 4-inch for the first coat and it completely fixed my problem with pulling the tape out of the joint, so what's your go-to knife size for the first coat?
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phoenix_martin401mo ago
A buddy of mine had the same dragging issue, and he swore by his 6-inch knife like @miller.thomas does. He kept fighting the tape pulling out on every job. One day his knife handle broke mid-job, and all he had left was a 4-inch. He was mad about it, but he used it to finish the first coat. He called me that night saying he finally saw the light, because the smaller blade just followed the wall and didn't lift the tape at all. He said it was all about the knife following the actual shape, not forcing a feather. Now he won't touch a 6-inch for that first coat.
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miller.thomas1mo ago
You mentioned switching to a 4-inch to stop pulling the tape out, but I mean, I've always had the opposite happen. For me, a 6-inch knife gives a better feather and puts less pressure right on the tape edge. Maybe it's just my technique, but the bigger knife glides over the joint better on that first coat for me.
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holly_thompson981mo ago
Interesting how that works for you, @miller.thomas. My experience is totally different. A 6-inch knife can bridge over small dips in the wall for me, leaving a ridge right along the tape line that I have to sand out later. The 4-inch knife follows the wall's shape better on that first pass, so I get a flatter feather right from the start. It's more about control than pressure for my hands.
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