I'm an Industrial and Commercial Electrician by trade. I enjoy learning about other trades: plumbers, drywall, painters... But I always watch episodes by Vancouver Carpenter (even older ones). What I like about this channel is unedited footage (mistakes happen, and we learn from them) and different techniques/tips are shown.
I know that trim carpenters like angle heads better because a flatter, square (more square at least) corner makes applying base a lot easier. I'll actually take a 10" knife and feather the corners out at the bottom. It's an extra step for me but since I also often apply the trim I more than get the time back in the end because I don't have to deal with a gap between the base and the wall in the corners. It easier to make the corners flat than it is to plane the trim to fit the drywall.
I’ve been watching your videos for quite some time and now I’m starting to actually tape with a crew, they were asking if I knew how to do it already and told them I just watched some videos 😁 so I guess I gotta thank you for that.
This was a great video. I really liked how it didn't start out as a comparison of the two but slowly became one. I think comparison videos that know they are comparison videos at the start all sort of follow the same formula and end up not being as good as this
Thanks for the great video. About to invest into some taping tools for more work and this was my biggest question. I didn’t know which tool, angle head or flushers to invest into. Thanks again Ben!
Thank you so much. This video is the best one I’ve watched. I have drywall jobs every once in a while so I don’t do it full time. I am trying to convert to nicer taping tools like the tubes and heads. Thank u for the info.
Lay a small piece of dry tape over the mechanical head hole, then press the ball into it while attaching handle. This will make the angle head more rigid on the pole the way you like it..
The angle heads definitely take some getting used to, but you can also adjust the tension with the springs up top on some models. Flushers are much more user friendly and probably better for the DIY/light duty GCs out there. We have both, and if the angle head doesn't leave it quite right we usually follow up with the flusher.
Hey Ben good vid as usual man. I to am learning the angle head I it has helped that I work on the same site's as other tapers got a quick lesson feeding with the tube instead of a corner box it really works great the head rides nicer to . I was loading with an alien 👽 too .
As someone that finished custom homes for 35 years I can say that when you use the Angle Head with a bazooka and angle box it is much less messy and it will do a great job. Just never drop them!!! The carbide blades can break. You definitely can not reverse the order. The Ange Head will dig out the corner.
My father is fond on saying that a lot of guys try to buy their skill with their next tool purchase... From my observations he is right. Ben, in his self deprecating way, does a good job of dispelling the notion that you can buy your skill. He aptly demonstrates that you still have to put the effort into developing your skills and learning your trade. Good man!
With that angle head tool, you wouldn't want to hit an electrical box that happens to be at only a couple inches from an inside corner....like it happens a lot in bathrooms. They are hard on the flushers too. But flushers will last way more than a year. I have a two inch, a newer 3.5 inch , but my 8 year old one is still quite usable. And I am busy at least 9 months out of the year.
Just bought the ole cheapo set in plastic didn't use it yet. I do want my corners to be nice, but really no one looks at them, they only look at how well the rest of the ceilings and walls. Great job on the videos. Ty
An angle head, along with the corner box that feeds it will set you back about 700$.And you mostly still have to fine tune those 3 ways. A tube applicator and applicator head is about $150. If you also get the flat applicator head...$60, you can be really efficient at taping. My bazooka head is pretty much in need of an overhaul, but I am too old to want to invest in a new one; so I use it to feed the DRY tape( Feeding and cutting the tape still works good) onto the mud applied with the flat applicator. Still can reach 10 foot ceiling, which is a great time saver over stilts work. IMO
If you run bottom to top first run then you collect your mud as you go and can fill in areas that are short on mud. Best of all there is no pile of mud on the ground.
I use a 3in flusher for my tapecoat it doesn't grab the tape as much and pull it off the wall and less chances of hitting a screw then I can sync it then I use my angle head in corner box three and a half inch it works great I think I only rip the tape once no big deal just push it back down with your finger or run it the opposite way
Try using a wool corner roller to put the mud on for skim coat....those compound tubes are too hard too get the mud put on properly....2.5" for taping...3.5" for skimming
Nice comparison between angle heads and flushers. There's a few more pros worth mentioning for using flushers instead of angle heads. One, you won't damage your flusher if you run it over a screw that wasn't set deep enough, unlike an angle head. Two, flushers don't need to be rebuilt from time to time, unlike angle heads, which saves you money. Three, flushers are more practical for smaller jobs, and a time saver compared to using angle heads and a pump. Easier and faster clean up. Both have there pluses and minuses, depending on the kind of work you do.
Thanks for the video, starting a new job this week and purchased a corner finisher and I have been a little nervous about trying it, you gave me the push I needed ! Thanks
Try putting the angle head directly on the applicator tube. Or even better an internal box. Then follow with the glazer. Also, with the angle head, we used to remove the tungsten blades and use old stainless box blades. They wear in very quick and last quite a long time. Also you can round the point a bit if you go over a glazed tapecoat. Setting two houses a week, the stainless used to last me a year. Now i just use the glazers. A properly set up angle head is unbeatable in the right hands.
I feel privileged in my youth to have worked with one of the best tapers in Canada, the guy showed me that if you do really put time into the old-school methods knowing how to use a hawk and trowel and 6 inch knife all of these other things are just gravy you don’t need any fancy corner tool, or that man could put up tape like nobody else, it was amazing. I’m not trying to discredit these tools I just think it’s really important especially if somebody is going to go into mudding and taping that they learn the basics and and the base way of doing things first.
Have you ever tried running the angle head with a compound tube? We are trying too switch from our old ways....but we cant get the same results, we are used to do the angles 1 side at a time
Really useful video Ben! I don’t use my tube near as much as you, so this just solidified to me to keep to the flushers. Thanks for saving me $$ Can’t wait until you use the flat boxes.....which will likely fuel me to spend my money there...lol.
Haha kinda makes me miss drywalling I've done boarding and taping and what not with a small family business for almost a year loved the work but not with who I worked with aha 😅
I use a flusher head with a creaser wheel, it gives me a perfect corner, but I'v'e been thinking about getting a 4 inch finisher, because my 4 inch flusher leaves edges unless the corner is a perfect 90.
Any update on whether you tried to learn the angle heads and how that’s been going? After watching this video I was leaning towards the flushers but then I saw the editor’s note.
You still should flush tapes with a flusher that has a creaser wheel on the front then use the angle head. Personally the flushers work better all around tho
Think you might need a longer extension pole for those heights. You want to have your pole at almost a 45 to the peak of the corner to get that right amount of pressure on them...
Not totally necessary, because what controls the force applied to the angle is the ball position at the end of that flusher handle .You just need to pivot/rotate it a little more towards the ceiling part of the angle...instead of keeping it centered. I do not have an extendable flusher handle ,just a regular can-am ; and still flush great 10 foot high ceiling angles.
I mean you can get an applicator, roller and flusher for close to the same price as a nice angle head so it's a pretty large price different although the angle head can do every single stage. I dont know 6 in one half dozen in the other ya know?
So the angle head does a finish coat on both sides of the angle…at one time?! And the flusher is to imbed the tape in the mud? I still live in the dark ages, and hand tape knife and trowel, and still finish coat inside corners one side at a time….haha!
If you have a corner box and pole and head it will blow away your flusher and day of the year and do a better job and once you get use to the angle head you will never go back to a flusher head again .
Is there anywhere you can rent to try these. I use flushers. Not in love with them, but they work and I learned to use them. Don’t feel like dropping $300 and finding out I don’t like it.
Hey I’ve watched and learned enough from your channel that I was able to mud and tape a 100 year old house remodel Thanks!!! Maybe you can help out RU-vidrs Trent&Allie they seem like they could use your training
Getting a throttle box eventually for yourself would be something I'd think about. Once you get your mud consistency dialed in and used to the throttle box then you always have the correct amount of mud in your angles and you eliminate a step so running your angles is much more faster
Put ya head onto ya applicator tube and push the mud threw the head that's if it's the same as the tapepro head I've got it actually has a hole in the back that forces the mud threw the head at the blades.. You need to start from the bottom go as high as ya can than spin head around and without pushing on applicator use the mud built up at blades already to that tiny bit on the top and go over it a couple times if need be
Great demo of the Flushers versus Angle Heads. As long as the finish looks good enough, speeds up the work and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, "flusher" it is.
I have fresh drywall and I plan on doing a orange peel texture on the ceiling and knockdown on the walls. Should I do the ceiling first or the walls? I am working alone. What would be the best way to do it so as to not to mess up one texture when I do the other?
I wonder if machine mud would have made a difference? I don't think you've covered using machine mud in a video? Some people like to use it even for hand tools, what do you think?
Why are you using blue mud if your taping with yellow? You should try out green or red mud for finishing it sands easier than blue without the glue in it. Would love to see a video comaparing all the different muds too. Synco vs Cert vs Hamilton and all the colors of mud too Yellow blue red and green.
I think he might have at one point. I remember him mentioning too that the blue buckets are totally because he likes those buckets and isn't the actual mud he uses.
@@DanEspresso It's just a bucket, so idk how it can be better than an ordinary menards bucket. I just recall a video Ben made about mixing drywall and explaining he doesn't actually like Certainteed, he just likes keeping all his buckets the same. I think he uses USG for his drywall mix, or some kind of canadian version of USG.
@@zahktuthalxalyrion6364 I don't know menards buckets but the cert ones a deeper and have strighter walls than synko CGC which is the canadian USG. Dont get me started on Home Depot shit buckets.
@@DanEspresso We don't even have a home depot nearby, it's a few cities away and requires the interstate so no worries about me referring to them! But I got some USG all purpose and a bucket from menards, and a bucket from Ace Hardware. So we'll see next week if I notice any bucket differences...
So you're recommending the tool that is easier to use with less quality in the end over the tool that is a little harder to use but does perfect angles
@@vancouvercarpenter right on. I was in a bad mood earlier. I hope I didn't come off like a dick. I totally understand how people want to do things their own way but you really should try to keep an open mind about the automatic tools they will make your life so much easier you can't fix a butt joint with a pan and knife compared to the boxes. Take care bro n don't work to hard
Sometimes the wheels on the angle head bind a little or seize completely when dirty. The O rings on the wheels leave the marks. I recommend a good cleaning and lubrication.
Ive been watching lots of videos of guys taping and ive never once on a job be it residential or commercial seen ANYONE use tubes to apply compound. Its angle boxes and angle heads. Maybe its a minnesota thing? Idk
On most commercial work ; they install suspended ceiling. So it is easy to use the corner box and angle head because you can start your run past the point where it is not going to show. However; On residential work; you still have to tune up your 3 ways after the box and head is run...at least according to the few tapers I saw using them.
Ive been using angle heads for some time now, they do tend to rip tapes when they are new but as you break them in it will run alot smoother without tearing the tapes. As far as finishing goes, tube and applicator works much better with with a flusher than an angle head, try putting the angle head directly on your tube and finish in one step, might take some practice to get it right but its much cleaner. It looks to me like your pushing way too hard on the angle head, you only need to press till the springs bottom out in the corner and thats it. There is definitely a bigger learning curve with the angle head but once you master it its effortless compared to a flusher, less pushing, one less step if you use it on the end of a tube or use an anglebox, and alot less sanding.
Another tip when taping, try rolling your tapes a little tighter than you would when using a flusher, that way you won't rip tapes and you will get a much flatter finish
You can also run the corner of the top carbides on a piece of sandpaper. I use a diamond sharpening stone but I imagine sandpaper would work too, just a little slower.
I’ve always used a 2.5 inch flusher to tape and a 3 inch angle head to coat my angles. Never had an issue, just make sure your flusher isn’t warn out. Expect 6-8months out a flusher. After that tapes will start to be too rounded to use an angle head.
The angle head is great for walls that have a flat finish. The flusher is great for textured finishes. So your choice depends on the final wall texture. Great video. 👍👍
We use to use an angle head to skim and coat our angles, I eventually bought a flusher to skim with, so the angle head took less abuse. The main thing I have to tell you since you never used one before, make sure you blow the mud out from back behind the top blades where they meet at a point, if not it will dry and next time it is closed, the top clip (under the point part, that slides on the body) will bend & need to be replaced, resulting in the top blades having to be repositioned which is a pain. Second thing, go through your angles and make sure all the fasteners are below the drywall surface or you will break the carbide blades, which is expensive and pain to align properly. The mud should be thin, like taping thin. Our method was a little different, we used a roller to set the tape, then either a flusher or angle head to skim it. When it came time to coat it, we used an angle box with an angle head. The trick is to leverage your body weight instead of arms to push the angle box. They will tell you that you can't adjust an angle head on the jobsite, that they need to be sent out to align on a jig, which is bs. With a piece of glass, you can do it yourself in under an hour.
definitely need to keep saying, "welcome back to Vancouver Carpenter," because that's who you are! we get the purpose of the channel, keep it up, Ben! 😉
Isn't that more expensive head designed to use with bazooka and cheaper one without it? Ofc you can use them as you want but for sure it works better with bazooka and you get exact amount mud each time.
Sand your sharp corner off the head a bit. Work from the bottom up. Ames, Tapeteck and Dewalt don't sell many "MudRunners" in Canada, have a talk to them about doing a demo you may get a free one,
Hi Ben, very good video 👍 I have to say after watching your videos about the how to’s and tips in drywalling, your enabling my kitchen to go back together 😬
Curious if you’ve used a mud runner before or are considering it, it let’s you get away with two coats on angles. Plus less going back and forth with the applicator then flusher
@@squigglyphrank9348 yes they pay for themselves real fast plus they last forever so in the long run they are cheaper than a flusher which will wear out and need to be replaced every year
