Finishing trowel or float?

[mikegm]

Just been looking online at trowels, when I came across Magnesium Float, sorry to sound thick, and am only a beginner, but at the moment I just use a finishing trowel. When or at what stage would a Float be used?

 

[mikegm]

Just found an plder post from Roy C, apparently a float is used in rendering!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

A plasters float would be used to even a base/rendered coat surface out, a devil float would be used to key it.
A trowel is used to lay on your coats of plaster.
Sometimes the terminology between float and trowel are confused a when using plastering tools.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Trowel View media item 39101 Float

Untitled

• PrenticeBoyofDerry
• 29 Oct 2011
• 1

 

[peaps]

Float

Trowel

Plastic float

 

[Alastairreid]

For arguments sake.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trowel

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

We are talking about plastering here, not gardening, concreting, building walls or mixing soufflés.

Untitled

• PrenticeBoyofDerry
• 29 Oct 2011
• 1

Untitled

• PrenticeBoyofDerry
• 29 Oct 2011
• 1

which ones a bucket?

 

[BigRobCanUFixIt]

this one>

 

[roy c]

Float
a top quality plastering trowel..

Trowel
a good quality brick laying trowel

Plastic float

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

 

[stevethespreader]

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

how about this one roy? click on the "click here" tab to watch a vid of it in use http://www.brickytool.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/983

 

[roy c]

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

how about this one roy? click on the "click here" tab to watch a vid of it in use http://www.brickytool.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/983[/QUOTE]

Sorry Steve but I am afraid I am a bit "old school" when it comes to floating, I tend to use Stadium floats and when I get them I sand the corners off and sand the "pattern " off the float, if no sander then I will rub it on a concrete block till surface is nice to use. I tend to float up as soon as poss and sometimes give it a second float, If you look at that video the muck was too dry when he was floating it , and any way I will always sponge up after floating.... As you probably know you only need light pressure when floating and I tend to hold the float vertical with light pressure and always float with downward stokes. Interesting to see what the lads think...

 

[stevethespreader]

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

how about this one roy? click on the "click here" tab to watch a vid of it in use http://www.brickytool.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/983[/QUOTE]

Sorry Steve but I am afraid I am a bit "old school" when it comes to floating, I tend to use Stadium floats and when I get them I sand the corners off and sand the "pattern " off the float, if no sander then I will rub it on a concrete block till surface is nice to use. I tend to float up as soon as poss and sometimes give it a second float, If you look at that video the muck was too dry when he was floating it , and any way I will always sponge up after floating.... As you probably know you only need light pressure when floating and I tend to hold the float vertical with light pressure and always float with downward stokes. Interesting to see what the lads think...

so your technique is rub up twice with the float and then leave it off a sponge finish?

 

[roy c]

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

how about this one roy? click on the "click here" tab to watch a vid of it in use http://www.brickytool.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/983[/QUOTE]

Sorry Steve but I am afraid I am a bit "old school" when it comes to floating, I tend to use Stadium floats and when I get them I sand the corners off and sand the "pattern " off the float, if no sander then I will rub it on a concrete block till surface is nice to use. I tend to float up as soon as poss and sometimes give it a second float, If you look at that video the muck was too dry when he was floating it , and any way I will always sponge up after floating.... As you probably know you only need light pressure when floating and I tend to hold the float vertical with light pressure and always float with downward stokes. Interesting to see what the lads think...

so your technique is rub up twice with the float and then leave it off a sponge finish?

It depends on the size of the job Steve, sometimes theres not always time to give it a second float but if I can I do...Also a lot of my jobs involve other things aswell, like the last one I have just finished was on a 4 storey house and we had to knock the chimney off and rebuild most of it, replace lintols on all the bays on each floor, take out a fire escape and fibre glass the gutter and over the bay window, and cut out cracks and mesh and bring them back in. So I get a lot of variation around my rendering and plastering.. I have tried to load pictures on my album of that last job but cant get the pics to load, I will have to get the missus to show us again Must be an age thing.....

 

[peaps]

It's an American thing to call a plastering float a trowel.

 

[stevethespreader]

a rendering float ( not one I myself would buy) , but a float ,non the less...

how about this one roy? click on the "click here" tab to watch a vid of it in use http://www.brickytool.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/983[/QUOTE]

Sorry Steve but I am afraid I am a bit "old school" when it comes to floating, I tend to use Stadium floats and when I get them I sand the corners off and sand the "pattern " off the float, if no sander then I will rub it on a concrete block till surface is nice to use. I tend to float up as soon as poss and sometimes give it a second float, If you look at that video the muck was too dry when he was floating it , and any way I will always sponge up after floating.... As you probably know you only need light pressure when floating and I tend to hold the float vertical with light pressure and always float with downward stokes. Interesting to see what the lads think...

so your technique is rub up twice with the float and then leave it off a sponge finish?

It depends on the size of the job Steve, sometimes theres not always time to give it a second float but if I can I do...Also a lot of my jobs involve other things aswell, like the last one I have just finished was on a 4 storey house and we had to knock the chimney off and rebuild most of it, replace lintols on all the bays on each floor, take out a fire escape and fibre glass the gutter and over the bay window, and cut out cracks and mesh and bring them back in. So I get a lot of variation around my rendering and plastering.. I have tried to load pictures on my album of that last job but cant get the pics to load, I will have to get the missus to show us again Must be an age thing.....

alright roy cheers let us know when you have managed to upload the pics