Breaking in a new trowel

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marshall

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I'm currently trying to break in my new MT 13x5 SS gold. it was bought after a friend dropped my first finishing trowel which I had been using since I started at college a few years ago.
so far I have been using a smooth stone flag in my garden covered with water, which has worked pretty well so far.
I have heard a new trowel should be used on a rendering job or three to break it in, but I hate rendering so that is out of the question.

Is there a better way to break in a new trowel? I'm not exactly looking for the easiest method, I don't mind if it takes a while, but I am looking for the best method.
I am also trying to break in a new MT bucket trowel. I was told you have to round over the corners and edges or you will get plastic shavings in your mix when you scrape your bucket.
sadly nothing I have tried so far seems to work, it still seems to cut in to my bucket when I scrape it.

any suggestions?
 
There's a guy on here that offers a trowel breaking in service,??Good price and does a good job:RpS_thumbup:
 
Get a vice and a cheap electric sander put the handle of the sander or the trowel handle in the vice then use the coarsest metal sandpaper you can get hold off, buy the sandpaper online then use you're sharpening stone, it'll still take a month or so to stop it tearing
 
Use a wet stone: it shouldn't take more than 5-10 mins to remove the ridges. Start with the coarse side and refine with the smooth side. For the bucket trowel, simply use a metal file :)
 
The best way to break in a trowel is to use it to plaster, as for how long that takes depends on how much you put on each day ! think in terms of months rather than days or weeks.
 
If you know anyone who does a lot of concreting give it to them to use for a bit .When you get it back and have jackhammer'd all the hard concrete off you will have a lovely broken in trowel. As for you bucket trowel, just go easy and don't scrape your bucket so hard , pretend you are putting your finger in a ladies fanny.:RpS_thumbsup:
 
old schools taught me render is the best way .... so stop bitchin and get some mud smashed on with it hahah ...
 
thanks for all the help guys.
I have used one of the stone flags in my garden to sharpen the edges on another trowel, it was a cheap trowel I bought from wickes. I use it for smoothing on jointing tape before skimming on plasterboard, it saves getting the adhesive all over my finishing trowel.
 
why not buy a pre worn trowel to use on skimming a no these also need broken in but are better then standard trowels to skim with straight off then use your other trowel for undercoats and sand and cement on internals as you dont render unless your one off these so called plasterers that just skim this is what a did now my trowel is broken in nicely
 
As Minh says above:RpS_thumbsup:
I have recently purchased the very same trowel as yourself, they are 'cross-gound' and will leave terrible marks in your work. I spent a few minutes on both edges and all corners with an oilstone, rough side first then smooth. Worked a treat on mine.
 
I've managed to wear down the machine marks on the edges, but they are still quite deep in the middle.
also some of the gold finish is starting to wear off the bottom of the trowel.
 
marshall said:
I've managed to wear down the machine marks on the edges, but they are still quite deep in the middle.
also some of the gold finish is starting to wear off the bottom of the trowel.
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Forget about the middle. It's the first 3mm from the edges that are of concern. The gold colour is just for decoration, it will all turn silver on the face after a few weeks :)
 
My last trowel went silver after a while. I'm just lucky I haven't been at work for about three weeks so I haven't needed my trowel.
 
My old Tyzack was a bugger to break in, they all were - you just got on and used it. I used two trowels, one to scratch/lay and first and second pass then the new one for final polish. Then as it broke in I'd use it for second pass. It's now several years old and puts skimming on with no marks.
I have just got a new Tyzack (#7) out and used it to trowel skimming that he taken in on browning. Jeez if felt numb. Got a rendering job coming up which should knock the edges off it.
If I've got a few spare minutes I'll chuck a handful of skim on the ligger and use it as an abrasive whilst rubbing my trowel across it.
 
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When I was at college, there were two lads on my course who started with a new tyzack trowel each, similar to the pre worn marshalltown ss gold trowel I got when I started the course. by the end of the course my trowel was ready to start working with, both the tyzack trowels were still as they were when they were bought.
this is one of the reasons I will always stick with marshalltown.
 
I can lay on and trowel up with a new trowel. but the more you use a trowel the better they get.
so why not wear it in as much as you can before you actually start plastering with it.
when I said I haven't worked for three weeks, this is because I injured my shoulder when I came off my bike. after just over a week I could move my arm again but not for long. before I injured my shoulder, a friend I was working with dropped my trowel down a flight of concrete stairs, causing damage that couldn't be repaired. so he bought me a new trowel.

while I have been off work and after the bruising has gone down on my shoulder, I have been breaking in my new trowel using water and a smooth stone flag in my garden. it's not quite sharp enough to cut through a plaster bag yet but it's getting there.
 
beddy said:
Rhys are you still using tyzack after what you've been saying the last few days
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Got a couple left, I'm going to use it for rendering and hard trowelling. If it fecks up I'll just sling it in the bin with the last one.
 
Marshall, I can trowel up with a brand new trowel that has spent 5 mins on my wet stone. The only part of the trowel that comes into contact with the background is the first 2-3mm of the edge. It doesn't need to be razor sharp either, as long as it is smooth and evenly tapered without any ridges or nicks, it will produce the same finish as a well worn in trowel :)
 
My tutor at college told me that you know when your trowel is worn in when you can cut a plaster bag open with it.
I have only been plastering for two years, until now I believed my college tutor when he told me that a trowel with a sharp edge is better.
as I said earlier, my trowel currently isn't that sharp, but the edge is smooth and doesn't have any nicks in it.
I haven't plastered anything with it yet, that will have to wait till next week.
me and a friend have got two big bedrooms to plasterboard for a client first, he also knows about my shoulder injury and there is no rush to plaster everything.
thanks for the help mate :)
 
Smoothing on jointing tape? I am new to this site but still thought it was plaster related?
What happened to blueboard mesh tape n such?
I know there are guys from all over the world on here maybe that is part of the term enology confusion.
 
Xrapgbwis said:
Smoothing on jointing tape? I am new to this site but still thought it was plaster related?
What happened to blueboard mesh tape n such?
I know there are guys from all over the world on here maybe that is part of the term enology confusion.
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When I say jointing tape, I mean the fiberglass mesh tape used to cover the join in plasterboard, not the tape used for taping and jointing.
while I was at college, everyone I encountered cut the tape to length and then pressed it in to place by hand, where I used an old trowel for smoothing on the tape.
I thought everyone did this, obviously I was wrong.
 
You have much to learn Marshall. Try to get some work with a time served spread and you'll soon realise that what you have been taught is just the basics of plastering :)
 
I knew after the first few days at college that it wasn't going to be as in depth as I thought it would be.
but I have been able to plaster and work along side other more experienced plasterers without too much trouble.
 
marshall said:
I knew after the first few days at college that it wasn't going to be as in depth as I thought it would be.
but I have been able to plaster and work along side other more experienced plasterers without too much trouble.
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Come and work alongside my Boss, he'll tell you how good you are or not!
I have been working with a trowel for nearly a year now, on site NOT a classroom & although my confidence is growing the truth is I still have a lot to learn.
Keep at it friend.
 
Goldfinch said:
Come and work alongside my Boss, he'll tell you how good you are or not!
I have been working with a trowel for nearly a year now, on site NOT a classroom & although my confidence is growing the truth is I still have a lot to learn.
Keep at it friend.
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I've been working as a plasterer for just under a year. before getting my qualifications, qualifications seemed to be all employers cared about. now I have my qualifications, employers only seem to care about experience.
you can't win either way.
 
Minh said:
Marshall, I can trowel up with a brand new trowel that has spent 5 mins on my wet stone. The only part of the trowel that comes into contact with the background is the first 2-3mm of the edge. It doesn't need to be razor sharp either, as long as it is smooth and evenly tapered without any ridges or nicks, it will produce the same finish as a well worn in trowel :)
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Absolutely spot on. My 14" trowel is around 10 years old but is far from sharp but produces the most awesome finish!!!!! I also have a new gold permashape which after a few jobs is excellant
 
I just glued a couple of sheets of wet n dry paper to a piece of board.. ran each edge over the for about 5 mins and it was enough to take the edge off it and stop the trowel dragging! Had the trowel for about a year and gave up breaking it in naturally as it was making jobs a nightmare, so stuck to using my old trowel which was nicked on one side.. so had to spin trowel around to trowel certain directions.. but new one works a treat now
 
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