Plasterer's bucket and Mixing drill + Whisk

[Georgeone]

Hello all !

I know for some of you my question appears pretty silly but I just can't find a solution for it.

Where can I get a bucket for mixing my mud?

All the plasterers I have asked say, just got it from a friend or a man working in a factory gave to me or just , yeah this is a mayonnaise bucket.
I have never seen such a buckets in a hardware store or DIY store, all they have is them "monkey" called buckets, I do have 2 of them but I don't like them too much, so hard to dip 40 kg of mud on the spot board with them.
The bucket I am looking for , I am sure most of you use it every day is black or white in color , thick plastic made with metal handle , very easy to clean and quite solid, doesn't break when you bang the solid plaster out of it

Which drill do you recommend for mud mixing and where can I get the whisk for it?
Some shops do paint whisks or similar but they are just too small for the job.
I have found in Internet that the best drills for mixing plaster should spin between 900 and 1750 RPM , that's ok but I don't find them in Birmingham.

Thank you very much in advance.

P.S. I have spend a few good hours browsing the net for solution and google didn't find me the answer, I just don't want to give the impression I have been lazy, asking here for easy solution.

 

[shaggy]

If you're mixing 40kg you need a tin bath really. After trying various types of plaster, I use a sand/cement render with a Thistle skim coat. Obviously I use my concrete mixer for the render coat but for the skim I use a plastic bucket. I see from your first post that you used to be a chef so will be familiar with Craigmillar Frytol long life frying oil. I used to live near a girl who worked in the school kitchens and used to give me the orange 20 litre tubs. You shouldn't be banging solid plaster out of it. Mix-up, on spot board and wash the bucket immediately then get on with the plastering.

 

[legs-akimbo]

You should have no problem picking up the plasterers buckets from most good builders merchants, theese take a full to the brim yellow builders bucket of water which is the exact amount for a full bag of skim.
With practice and a good mixer drill.... (I use a bosch specifically made for the job but pricey at around £400). you can hold and pour the contents of the bag and whisk at the same time. run your gaugeing trowell around the inside top of the bucket to remove dry powder from the bucket and give it a final whirl, all in around one minute flat.
Have a big bucket by the side of you to clean the whisk with a quick spin, drop your "mud" on the spot and use a square edged trowell, like a brick trowell with the top cut off, or better still run theskimming trowell inside the bucket till almost every dreg is out (alittle practice again this way to keep it quick & clean) six inches of water in the empty bucket cleaned out thoroughly with a stiffish brush from a dustpan and brush combination, then fill again with one full yellow builders bucket of clean water ready for the next mix.
START SPREADING..... keep to this simple routine every time and you will be flying, no need even for a labourer, why pay a man to do what can be done in twenty minutes yourself every day if you stick to the above.

Good Luck

Legs /Robbo
p.s. if you still cant get a bucket then John A.Stephens do them in Nottingham if you are desperate then a three hour round trip wont kill you and will pay for itselk in a single day. Look after those buckets and they last years and years.
You only need a bath, and preferably plastic, for mixing browning, however avoid using browning cus its bloody hard work. The art to plastering is staying one step ahead of everything and being clean in what is a dirty job, especially your tools, treat them better than you do your wife cus they are your living and what buys her those outfits and shoes that every woman "needs to have"

 

[Thermo]

spoken like a true craftsman

 

[shaggy]

Good stuff legs, but you're a professional and George is a beginner; read his first post here. He shouldn't be mixing up that amount of finish so that's why I referred to the 20litre bucket. I do my own plastering, and do a good job but I'm not doing it every day so on my own I find a 5m x 2.5m wall is big enough with one mix of skim. I don't think George should be mixing a full bag of skim yet.

 

[legs-akimbo]

You are quite right shaggy a small whisk and buckets will do any man up untill he feels ready to move up a notch.

 

[Panjandrum]

Gentlemen,
I read this in awe.
I have watched plasterers at work. I have asked questions. I have tried doing it myself. I have watched them plaster my own walls. I have asked questions. I have tried doing it myself, many times.
I have good hands. As a seasoned DIY of many years standing there is little I cannot tackle and produce a quality job, slower than the pro, but quality.
But I cannot do plastering.

 

[shaggy]

Panja, if you can use tools you can master almost any job. If you look at George's first post here you will appreciate that he is too ambitious but JerryD made a good comment. George has probably not understood that the wall can suck the moisture away from the plaster before he can work it. My first attempt at plastering about 30 years ago was not a good result. I had built an extension but I knew absolutely nothing about plastering except you put it on the wall and smoothed it with a float. I bought some bags of Carlite Browning and Carlite Finish on the advice at the builder's merchant and made a start. I made a reasonable job of ruling off the Browning but left it about a week to dry completely. When I started the skim it was like blotting paper and there was no time to spread the skim before it lost it's moisture. The end result was covered with a thick embossed wallpaper and emulsioned. I never used Carlite plaster again. My next attempt at plastering was to skim some plasterboard on a stud wall. I bought Thistle board finish and what an easy job; you've got lots of time to develop the skill with the float as the suction is controlled for you by the board construction. That's what I advise a beginner to do first; skim board until you get the feel of the float.
I've tried some one coat plaster by Blue Circle about 15 years ago and although it's expensive it does have it's advantages for the beginner. You get it on the wall and ruled off flat then wait until it's started to set at which point you bring the 'fat' up with a sponge float with a figure of eight motion. You then finish with a steel float and I actually had a visit from a Blue Circle rep to demonstrate this technique. It's a bit like finishing a concrete floor for a garage where the concrete slab is not screeded but you want a smooth floor.
The only plastering I do now is a sand/cement render followed by a Thistle skim coat. The secret is once again controlling the suction and I use a pump-up garden spray to wet the render before I skim. Obviously to do the render coat it's best to start on small walls and it's nice to have something to rule-off against like the edge of a door liner or angle-bead on an external corner.
I've taught myself to do this and if Legs-akimbo watched me he would probably say I was doing it all wrong! Perhaps I am, but the result is a smooth wall that you can put a straight edge against and is suitable for an emulsion finish. Having said that if I worked with legs for a few days I would expect to learn a few tips though. Finally you do need a good quality finish float, I have had mine for years and it has a comfortable banana shaped handle and a stainless steel blade.
I say have another go.

 

[chappers]

I agree Shaggy I wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination consider myself a plasterer, but have no hesitation in tackling the odd wall now and again and reckon I can get a pretty acceptable finish.
However my first attempt what a disaster.
Was doing a job for a bloke down the road from me about 10 years back, knocking through a wall and moving a kitchen etc.
His brother in law was going to do the plastering but broke his arm playing football, the bloke asked me if I wanted to take it on and being young and greedy thought no problems won't bother getting anyone in its only a couple of piers a bit of making good and a small wall how hard can that be, after all I'd watched enough spreads in my time. Oh.... how wrong was I what a mess looked like a map of the moon by the time I'd finished. had to get a mate in to sort it for me and he showed me where I was going wrong.
Made a few more attempts after that but I was always fighting it and then one day it just clicked so I too would say give it another go.

 

[Panjandrum]

You are very encouraging - maybe next time?

 

[masona]

What I used to do is plaster skim a wall that's going to have ceramic wall tiles for practise so I had nothing to lose, quite please with the result and I was slow though. If you wanted to, you could always take the plaster off again !

 

[Thermo]

my dad used to give me bits of plasterboard to practice on. im not fast, but i can do it well enough for smaller jobs and patching in

 

[shaggy]

I think what is encouraging is that many of us admit to making a cock-up of something but learn from it. Have a bit of confidence and you're half-way there.

 

[Thermo]

its all a learning curve, and do it enough and one day it clicks.

 

[Georgeone]

10xs for your reply!

1st I've notice that i used to mix the mud too much, i was thinking as longer as better, thats my biggest mistake, second I used dirty bucket or even i used to live some mud from the first mix and just add more water and do the second mix, stupid...

Second I am quite suffering from lack of cash at the moment so I put plastering on a hold and do some factory job, plz dont blame me for that i have rent and all them bills to pay, you know how hard is to find job just after NY and Christmass, and I am simply broke so when I get some cash I will get back to my pastering, BTW I am planning to get me self some books just to give me some theory and ideas , coz I have never seen in the books how important is the purity of the water , mixing time and etc..

Anyway thank you all again